Every Night Has Its Dawn
by vmars15
Summary: Reupload of Every Rose Has Its Thorn: It's the new school year and Quinn is back to being Queen Bee and Puck is back to being a jerk.  She's with Mike Chang and he's with basically every girl.  Will they ever be together?  This is a massive chapter story!
1. Back to the Start

_A.N. After getting some love on this story it somehow managed to disappear. I was going to reply to reviews and all I saw was: This story cannot be found. I was pissed off but luckily i still had it saved on my computer so i can reupload it. I believe it was because I stupidly used the word jackass in the summary when all summaries are supposed to be K-rated so it is my fault but my lesson has been learned. And this also gives me a chance to say a more accurate answer for when Ch. 2 will be up. I would guess possibly Friday to Saturday. I have about 3500 words done so far and i'm expecting it to be at least 10000. So I still have a ways to go but it's coming along. hopefully I'll be able to finish it sooner than I expect :)_

The students at McKinley High parted like gazelles at a watering hole as a lion appeared. They moved to the opposite sides of the hallway as they saw their Queen Bee make her way down the long hallway of the school to the main foyer where she could exit the building out to the parking lot. Her car, which had recently been returned to her, was waiting for her. Before the summer, this girl had been invisible. She had made the mistake of getting pregnant and had become a social leper after taking a tumble down the social ladder. However, the summer had come and went, and once school had started up again, the Queen had her body, her confidence, her title of Head Cheerio, and her show no mercy attitude restored to her. She was once again the Head Bitch In Charge (HBIC) and somehow everyone seemed to have forgotten that only months before she was as unpopular as any other member of the Glee Club.

Before the summer people rarely gossiped about the Queen Bee. It wasn't worth anyone's breath. Sure, rude names and giggles were shared amongst students, but there wasn't much gossip being shared that wasn't just an excuse to insult her. However the news had made its way around that after giving birth she gave her daughter up to the coach of a neighbouring school's glee club and the HBIC was now dating the father of her child. That had been a talking point for the students. The original father of the baby had changed about four months into the pregnancy into his best friend. Anyways, they had been together during the summer and there were witnesses that swore they had seen them at the movies and at Olive Garden holding hands, but once school had started it was obvious that they were no longer together. They didn't talk to each other, walk with each other, or acknowledge the other's existence. The Queen flirted with other boys, particularly one of the other members of the Glee Club and the football team Mike Chang, and the father of her baby was making his way through all of the impressionable and insecure freshman girls.

He had gone back to his old ways of throwing the losers of the school into the dumpster and throwing frozen drinks in the faces of classmates he didn't care for. While she had been pregnant he had seemed to have calmed down and become nicer, but as soon as school started it was like nothing had changed. He was a bully striking fear into everyone.

They were back to where they had started. They had gone through tremendous growth but somehow it had all been washed away. People suspected a messy break up had something to do with it but they never heard a word of it. Neither of the two talked about the other, nor did any of their friends know what had happened. People simply knew that they weren't together and they had reclaimed they had reclaimed their roles of the bitchy cheerleader and the man-whore bully.

The Queen Bee made her way out of the school had headed to the parking lot. On the way to her car she would have to pass the dumpsters. She knew who might be there throwing in lowly freshmen but she had been careful since school had started to walk past him without a second glance. She had been acting like he was invisible, just like everyone else to her had when she was pregnant.

She was about to pass the dumpsters when she heard her name being called out. She turned around and saw Mike Chang running to catch up to her. Over the summer it was obvious that he had spent time lifting weights as he wasn't as gangly as he had been before. His dancing however had remained remarkable and highly impressive.

She smiled and waited for him to reach her. Once he did he asked, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today? Last weekend at the party was really fun."

He was referring to a night in which they had both gone to Britney's house party and danced by her pool like no one was watching and then retreated to the hot tub where a steamy make out session had occurred. She wasn't sure if she had been ready for that, especially in front of a large group of people, but in order to fully regain her popularity and status she knew that she had to come across like she was perfectly fine with things. In any case, Mike was harmless and a nice guy.

She considered the proposition and bit her lip. "I'm headed home right now Mike."

He sighed. "Come on Quinn. We could just hang out at your house. We're friends, aren't we?"

Her name sounded strange coming out of his mouth, or maybe it seemed strange coming out of anyone's mouth. She didn't feel like she was the same person she had been a year ago, but she didn't feel the same like she did when she was pregnant. In any situation everyone had called her by the same name. _Quinn._ Three very different people. One name. Quinn.

She realized that she wasn't in a position to turn down invitations to hang out from cute football players while she was trying to maintain her position at the top of the popularity pyramid and not falling down as she had done before so she relented and nodded. "Well then let's go. My car is parked over there." She motioned to the front of the parking lot.

Mike smiled and followed her towards the lot. Quinn had been caught up and had forgotten where she was about to pass. She was so caught up that she found herself turning the corner and facing _him_. She was staring him straight in the eye and she hadn't even meant to. He was by the garbage with two of his Neanderthal friends with a tall, skinny freshmen with a face full of acne in their arm, about to throw him in the trash.

She wanted to turn away and stop staring but it was like he was hypnotizing her with just his eyes. She knew how stupid she must have looked, standing in the middle of the pathway staring at her ex-boyfriend, but she couldn't help it. She was thankful when Mike had broke her out of the trance by saying, "That's my little brother's friend. He comes over all the time to our house. I should stop it, shouldn't I?"

Quinn turned her gaze to Mike. "What? Umm…. Oh! Yeah, if you want." She wanted to expand but she had learned quickly while making her rise to the top for the second time that making her sentences short left less opportunities for her to ruin things.

Mike nodded and stepped out towards the three bullies and his brother's friend. "Hey Puck lay off of Gregg. He's my brother's friend and just a ninth grader minding his own business. Find someone else to torture." He addressed Quinn's ex because it was obvious that he was the ringleader in this child's play.

Puck looked at Mike intently, quickly took a glance at Quinn behind him, knowing that it was now clear that they had been together and asked, "What, are you two together now?"

Mike shook his head quickly. Quinn thought it was a bit too quick, almost like he was scared of what Puck would think. "We're just friends hanging out. Now, can you call those guys off of Gregg?"

Puck turned to his cronies, flicked his hands, and like that they dropped the lanky ninth grader and let him run off home, thankful that he had been saved from public humiliation. It should have been the end of everything.

But it wasn't. Puck turned around and smirked at Mike. "Just hanging out? Like the two of you were just hanging out in Britney's hot tub on Saturday?"

Quinn wanted to yell at him and tell him off. Mike seemed to know this as he turned his head around and mouthed _I got this_ to her. He looked at Puck in the eye without any fear. "Dude, come on. Relax. She's not your property. We're friends. Get over it."

Mike turned around and started walking away. Quinn followed, but she heard Puck yell out, "Man I got some advice for you. Wear a glove before you get the love. Se isn't worth nine months of torture."

She had it. She might have wanted to play things cool with Puck but she also knew that people wouldn't respect her if she let someone talk about her like crap without getting an earful from her. That's why she turned back around and exploded. "Shut up Puckerman! Leave me alone! Leave Mike alone! Do everyone a favour and just go away! No one wants you! No one would ever want you. You're worthless. You're going to be here years from now throwing losers in dumpsters. You're nothing but a Lima Loser!"

Before he could come back with any insults Quinn stormed off and Mike followed suit. When he reached her car he smiled. "That was awesome. No offence, but I've been waiting for someone to tell him off for a while."

Quinn shrugged and they both got into her car. She started driving and thoughts started poring into her head.

She turned to Mike. "Have you been like, bragging about what happened on the weekend?"

Mike shook his head. "No. Listen Quinn I like you but I wouldn't go around telling everyone about that. I don't want to ruin whatever kind of chance I have."

She gave him a sly smile and batted her eyelashes as she had been known to do ever so well. "Well your chances are looking pretty good if you want me to be honest."

Mike's face lit up like the Las Vegas strip. The car ride turned into light conversation about Glee Club, football, and Cheerio's. There was much talk about how much Quinn could not stand Coach Sylvester and though this time last year she idolized and looked up to the woman, she could finally see how fake and cruel she really was. Of course as fast as Quinn had divulged this information she made Mike swear to never tell a soul so her position as head cheerleader would not be in danger if anyone found out she had been trashing her renowned coach.

Quinn pulled into the empty driveway at her house. Her mother was out shopping for clothes to wear at one of her divorce proceedings that would make Mr. Fabray wish he had never cheated on her. Her father was of course gone, staying at a rental house until the divorce was over. Quinn hadn't spoken to him even when she moved back into her house. She was still bitter and furious over the way he had handled her pregnancy. She was still a tad bitter towards her mother but she was at least being more warm and welcoming her back into the home she'd grown up in so she pretended to be over the whole situation.

Quinn led the way into the house and closed the door behind Mike. "Do you want to hang out in the kitchen or…" She trailed off.

Mike questioned her. "Or what? Play Scrabble? Watch TV? Show me your new cheerleading routine?"

Quinn giggled and shook her head. She tried to move back into full on flirting mode. She knew that in order to be at the top of the pyramid she needed a boyfriend. A poplar boyfriend at that. Mike was nice, and funny. He hadn't ignored her when she was pregnant and everyone in the school liked him. He was also cute and hadn't been with many girls so Quinn knew he wasn't a player. He would be a good guy to use to become as popular as she had once been. She was close to the top of the pyramid and she thought she could reach the peak with Mike on her arm. So she batted her eyelashes and said softly, "I was thinking more like if you wanted to hang out in my room?"

Mike nodded and Quinn took his hand as she led the way to her room. She knew they would have a lot of privacy as her mother wasn't going to arrive home for at least an hour and a half. Quinn opened the door to her bedroom and closed it behind them as she went to sit on her bed. Mike followed suit. He leaned in to kiss her but Quinn put her hand on his chest to stop him. He stood still but he didn't pull away.

"I'm not a stupid hook-up or an easy slut, and if you think that then you can leave."

Mike looked Quinn in the eyes and she could hear the sincerity in his voice as he told her, "I like you Quinn… a lot. I think you're the hottest girl in the whole school. You're good at singing, and dancing, and you're smart. That's hot. You're perfect."

Quinn smiled. She loved compliments, especially as she hadn't been getting much as of a few months ago. She took her hand off of Mike's chest and allowed him to kiss her. She allowed him to wrap his hands around her waist and lower her so that she was laying on her bed, head on her pillows and next to her stuffed lamb, as he layed on top of her, planting kisses on her lips.

He was nice, but Mike Chang was also a teenage boy so that it didn't surprise Quinn when she felt his tongue against her bottom lip, asking her to open her mouth, or when she felt his hands trail above her waist to her chest (above her clothes though as she was wearing her Cheerio's uniform which was hard to manoeuvre under). She let him. First, she didn't want to ruin he chances of having Mike as a boyfriend which it seemed was going to be a pretty safe bet. Also, it honestly felt good. Quinn hadn't been touched like that since the summer and she didn't notice that she had missed it until Mike reminded her.

To be completely honest, though Quinn liked Mike and wanted to be his girlfriend, she didn't now why that in the middle of making out with him and having him fondle her, she had visions of Noah Puckerman brought to her mind. She cursed herself. She thought she had gotten over that punk. She had tried so hard to forget about him and move on with her life but there she was, making out with another guy and she was being painfully reminded of all the ways Puck had touched her or kissed her previously.

Quinn tried to shake herself out of it. She was here with Mike. All that she had shared with Puck was gone. Besides, they weren't good for each other. They had proved that to each other more times than either could count. Still, she had loved him and it would be hard to move on right away. That's another thing Mike was good for. He could provide a distraction for her. Someone that could make her forget about her broken heart which she was trying shield form the world. She knew she could never be the bitch she once was, but she was trying to be bitchy enough. So Mike could help heal her, if she could ever learn how to pay attention to their make out sessions without mindlessly thinking about Puck.

Quinn put one hand on Mike's arm, feeling the newly formed muscles he had worked on during the summer, and took her other arm and slid it under his Henley shirt. This was helping. Puck started to exit her mind and she was left with just thoughts of Mike Chang, one of the nicest boys in her grade. Too nice for an Ice Queen, but if he was interested she wasn't going to convince him otherwise.

She felt him kissing her neck and his one hand clutching her upper thigh. This made her feel better, and it made life seem easier. Doing this didn't make her think about all the hardships she had faced or that she was currently facing, but she still thought it was going too fast. She knew she was the one that had given him the wrong idea sp she had to set him straight.

Quinn turned her head sideways away from Mike and sat up. He got the message and sat up, getting off from on top of her. He took a deep breath and gave her a relaxed smile. "We're going too fast."

Quinn was thankful that he got it and she wouldn't have to explain it. She simply nodded and laid against her headboard. She looked up at the ceiling. "It has to go slower or we're done." He voice held authority.

Mike layed down opposite Quinn so that his feet were resting next to her head and vice versa. He didn't look at the ceiling however, but at Quinn. "When exactly did we even start?"

"Don't be an asshole," She warned as she tilted her head up to look Mike in the eyes, "You know that I'm not the type to randomly make out in hot tubs. We've started something but if you expect it to go too far too quickly then ou might as well leave right now. I don't need you."

Mike held his hand up above his head, playfully professing his innocence. "I don't expect it to go anywhere like that Quinn. Where is your mind these days? Down in the gutter?"

Quinn smiled and jokingly threw her stuffed lamb at Mike's face. Instead of the soft plush hitting him however, its bead eye hit him in his eye and he put his hand over it as he held back any screams or tears so that he could still remain manly.

"Are you trying to kill me Quinn?" He asked as he continued to clutch his eye. The surrounding area was becoming red.

She slid over to his side of the bed and helped him off. "Take my hand and follow me to the kitchen. We'll put ice on it."

Hand in hand (so that he wouldn't trip and fall) they made their way downstairs to the kitchen. She sat him down in a chair as she went to the freezer and got out two ice cubes. She wrapped them in a cloth and walked back over to Mike. She moved his hand away from his swollen eye and put the cloth over it.

"That's freezing!" He whined.

Quinn sighed. "Don't be a Nancy-boy Mike. It'll get rid of the swelling and the redness."

"I'm not a wuss." He pouted as he said this and the two started laughing.

Quinn enjoyed how easy it was to be with Mike. It was simple. She could be carefree. He had seen her at her lowest and she didn't feel the need to be the Head Bitch In Charge when she was with him. She felt like she could be herself, or at least as much as herself as she wanted to show. She did want to portray some sort of an image as someone not to be messed with in front of him. She carefully made sure she wasn't ptting too much pressure on his eye as she kept the cloth over it. She brushed a strand hair out of his face with her other hand.

Mike smiled. "You'd make a good girlfriend."

Quinn nodded. "I am a pretty good girlfriend."

"You could be my girlfriend – if you wanted I mean."

Quinn giggled. "Well what an offer that is Mike Chang."

He smiled at her and took the hand she wasn't using and held it. "I meant that I would like you to be my girlfriend. That's what I should have said."

Quinn nodded and continued to smile and hold the cloth over his eye without replying. She wanted him to sweat it out a bit. She counted down in her head. _Five. Four. Three. Two. One…_

Exactly at that moment he cried, "Ah come on Quinn! Don't be like that. Answer."

She continued to tease him as she twirled a strand of his hair. "You didn't ask a question."

He sighed, but relented. "Fine. Will you, Quinn Fabray, be my girlfriend?"

She put her finger on her chin and pretended to be in deep thought as she processed his proposal. In reality she knew her answer from the get go. She had decided her had needed a popular boyfriend and it hadn't taken long for her to have seduced one into asking her to be his girlfriend. She had missed being able to manipulate and charm boys. It didn't work so well when one had swollen feet, a huge belly, and morning sickness.

She nodded. "Yes. I'd like that."

Mike took the cloth from Quinn's hand and set it down on the table. He leane in and kissed her. Not fast and intense like it had been upstairs. This time it was short and sweet.

Quinn gave Mike a peck on the lips in return and stood up to put the ice cubes and the cloth in the sink. She turned around and Mike was staring at her.

"What?"

He smiled and waved his hand. "Nothing. I was just thinking… this time last year we didn't even talk, and now we're dating. It's just weird."

"We talked," She pointed out, "Not much but we hung out with the same people so we talked occasionally. Plus, I was with Finn."

Mike nodded. "The golden couple."

She pretended to stick a finger down her throat and gagged. "Ugh, just another reason people expected me to be perfect."

Mike stood up from his chair and walked over to Quinn. He slid his arms around her waist and leaned in so their faces were right in front of each other. He whispered, "You don't have to be perfect around me." He then planted another kiss on her lips. This one was gentle and closed-mouth as well, but was cut short when the couple heard someone clear their throat. The parted and Mike turned around. Quinn blushed as she saw her mother standing in the kitchen doorway, holding two large bags from Macy's and obviously also uncomfortable with seeing her daughter kissing a boy she had never met.

Quinn quickly tried to remedy the situation She had always been quick on her feet which was a good thing in situations like these. "Mom, I thought you were still going to be out for a while. This is Mike, my boyfriend. Mike, this is my mom." The word boyfriend felt so weird coming out of her mouth regarding Mike. She figured it just had to be because it was so new. Also, she knew telling her mother that they were dating would get her mind off of what she had just seen.

"I left earlier for the mall than I originally planned," Mrs. Fabray explained, "But Quinnie – you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

"It's a recent development."

She looked up at Mike and he smiled at her. He looked back at her mom and gulped. He had always had a fear of meeting parents.

"Well it's almost four o' clock Quinn and you still have homework and you have to choreograph that new routine for Cherrio's."

Mike took the hint. "Maybe I should just go. It was nice meeting you Mrs. Fabray. I'll text you Quinn."

He started walking to the doorway but when he reached Mrs. Fabray she held a hand out to stop him. He stood in front of her.

"Mike, before you started dating my daughter she wasn't in a state of being pregnant. I would really appreciate if you could keep it that way."

"Mom!" Quinn cried, utterly humiliated. She hed a hand over her head as she tried not to let Mike see her blushing like a tomato.

Mike nervously laughed and then cleared his throat. "Uh, don't worry about that Mrs. Fabray. I'll make sure that's not an issue."

Mrs. Fabray nodded and then turned to the side so that Mike could pass through. As soon as Quinn heard the door close and she knew for sure that her boyfriend had left she was ready to start in on the attack.

"Mom I'm trying really hard to make everyone forget that I was pregnant and a social zero last year so it would be splendid if you didn't have to bring it up to my new boyfriend. I mean o you not understand how freaked out he probably is now? He'll probably break up with me by tomorrow! I'll be a laughing stock. Dumped after a day of going out. I'll be humiliated."

Mrs. Fabray sighed as she put her shopping bags down and went to the fridge to take out the ingredients she would need for the supper. "Sweetie you need to relax. You're an amazing person and this Mike character is probably thrilled to be going out with you. I just needed to make sure that history wouldn't repeat itself."

Quinn sat down on a stool by the island counter. She crossed her arms and laid her head on them. "It won't mom. I'm done with being stupid. That was so last year. This year I just want to focus on being popular, Glee club, Cheerio's, and good grades."

"And what about having a boyfriend?" Her mom asked as she started chopping up the onions.

Quinn rolled her eyes as if it was obvious. "That goes with being popular mom. No one is ever at the top of the social pyramid being single."

Mrs. Fabray crinkled her nose as she always did when she deciding if or if not to say something. In this case she chose the former as she asked, "What happened to this summer? All that time you were with Noah, and all those nights he spent here… I thought the two of you were item."

Quinn stood up ready to leave. She didn't want to think about this summer, the days she spent with Puck, and she especially didn't want to think about the nights with him. She simply walked to the end of the kitchen and before exiting muttered, "That's over. You wouldn't understand. Mike's popular, and he's a good guy. I need him."

With that Quinn continued walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room where she laid on her bed and allowed herself to think about the summer she had shared with Puck. It was after they had given up their baby, and after he had told her that he loved her. Immediately Quinn regretted letting herself draw back on these memories as she felt tears falling down he face and she couldn't get them to stop. She shook and sobbed letting out all the pain she had built up for weeks. Quinn told herself that after this cry she would be better. She would never think about Beth or Puck again and she would focus on being popular once again and having Mike as a boyfriend. It was for the best. She needed to be back to where she once was. She was so close that she could taste it. Being a bitch was much easier and it stopped from people pushing her while she walked down the hallway or ignore her as she walked into class. She would finish crying and that would be the end of it. It was a new year and it was time for the past to stay in the past.

After a dinner filled with Mrs. Fabray describing all of the amazing clothes she made to show how stupid her soon to be ex-husband was to have cheated on her, Quinn walked up to her room to finish her English homework. With only a sentence to write before she was done, he cell phone started buzzing. It was Mercedes.

Quinn answered on the second ring. "Hey girl. What's going on?"

"Not much. I just got back from Kurt's house. He was helping me decide on what to wear tomorrow. You know, since it is our first Glee Club practice of the year. I'm wearing this fly hot pink t-shirt with some skinny jeans."

Quinn had tried to forget about Glee Club reuniting the next day. She didn't want to see Finn and Rachel being nauseating as a couple. She didn't want to fend off Santana and Britney, who were now trying to be her friends again. Most of all, she didn't want to see Puck.

"Quinn? Are you still there?"

Quinn shook herself out of it and redirected her attention back to Mercedes. "I'm still here. I just zoned out. What were you saying?"

Mercedes sighed. She was used to Quinn being in a completely opposite place than the real world nowadays. "I asked what you're going to wear."

Quinn laughed thinking it was a joke. When Mercedes didn't answer back she realized it had been a serious question. "Uhm… my Cheerio's outfit. You know Coach Sylvester makes us wear them all the time."

Mercedes pretended to gag. "Why did you have to return to those Barbie girl clones Quinn? You're not like them."

Quinn examined her nails and thought it was time to go in to her salon for a new manicure. She didn't want to go through this conversation again with her friend. They'd been over her decision to rejoin the cheerleading team for what seemed like a million times. "I used to be one of them and I kind of still am Mercedes. I like cheerleading. Plus, Kurt's on the team and you never give him a hard time for being on it."

"Kurt doesn't change who he is to fit in with them or to appease that Godzilla of a coach. He wears what he wants and hangs out with who he wants. He also eats what he wants. I hope you don't go back to killing yourself over a cookie." Mercedes' voice had genuine worry in it.

Quinn exhaled. "I have it under control Mercedes… but thank you. For looking out for me I mean. But you seriously don't have to worry about things. I'm still me… well a mix of me and the Head Bitch In Charge Quinn. I say it's a fair compromise."

Mercedes laughed. "As long as you don't try getting all sassy with me. You know I can't stand for any crap being thrown my way."

Quinn giggled. "Oh I know."

There was a silence and then Mercedes tone quickly turned back into a serious one. "Kurt said he saw something interesting today."

Quinn stopped filing her nails and focused all of her attention of her friend on the other line. "What was that?" She asked confused at what Mercedes was talking about.

"Well when we were walking to his car to go over to his house he said that he saw you pulling out of your parking spot in your car with Mike in the passenger seat."

Quinn rolled her eyes. Her friend was usually direct when she wanted to know something. She didn't know why she was beating around the bush this time. "He came over to my house. We were discussing what he should wear to Glee Rehearsal tomorrow."

"Ha Ha. Very funny Quinn. But seriously, what's going on? You told me what happened at the party with him, and you two have been flirting nonstop. What's the story?"

"We're dating." See? Nice and direct. Quinn liked it better that way. Mind games and running around to get to an answer were too annoying for her taste.

However, that still wasn't good enough for Mercedes. "Dating like what kind of dating? Casual I'll buy you some hot wings at Applebee's dating or we're boyfriend and girlfriend dating?"

Quinn put her English binder into her schoolbag and sighed. "The second one. He asked me today after I hit him accidentley in the eye with a stuffed animal."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Quinn looked to see if she had accidentally disconnected the call. She hadn't. "Mercedes, what's wrong? What are you thinking?"

"Quinn, we're friends so I'm going to lay it straight with you. Don't you think this is all going way too fast? You just had a baby with someone else only a few months ago, spent most of your summer with him without telling me anything, and now you want to start dating another boy? I just think you should slow it down."

Quinn was getting extremely agitated. Mercedes simply didn't understand how much she wanted – no needed – to be popular. She didn't understand the dynamics of the high school social order. Sometimes Quinn got the impression that her fiend would rather the both of them simply be unpopular and spend their days trying to get recognized by people without ever succeeding. It was easy for Mercedes to do that, but it was much harder for Quinn. When she realized she wanted to be top dog again she new that she didn't want to lose her newly acquired friendship with Mercedes or with Kurt. It was simple to stay friends with Kurt since he was on Cheerio's, but it was a different story with Mercedes. She was a diva and ruffled feathers. When she was a Cheerio people had forgiven her for being outspoken, but it wasn't able to be excused anymore since she had quit. Quinn was sacrificing to stay friends with her. She wished Mercedes could see things from her point of view.

"Mercedes, when was the last time you've ever been in a relationship? How could you possibly know whether I'm taking things too fast or not?" Quinn could hear the bitchiness in her tone and she cursed herself. That tone was reserved for other people, but not Mercedes. Not one of the only people who had been good to her when she was invisible, and had stood by her side.

Mercedes was silent on the other line, obviously hurt by Quinn's comment. Quinn attempted damage control. "I'm sorry Mercedes. That was out of line. I shouldn't have said that."

"No… you said exactly what you felt. I know I'm not as popular as you Quinn and that I haven't had as much experience with boys as you, but that doesn't mean that I can't have an opinion. You might want to stop with that snobby attitude if you want to have any friends left. Especially if you want to stay friends with me. I have enough people being rude as hell to me. I don't need a friend to do it as well."

Quinn knew that Mercedes was angry. She was talking fast and increasingly getting louder: two of her tell-tale signs. Quinn didn't want to push things any further so she tried to calm things down a bit.

"You're right. I'm sorry. But Mike is a good guy Mercedes and I want him to be my boyfriend. Can't you understand?"

Quinn heard a sigh on the other end and knew that her friend had relented. "Fine… but if I see that the boy is giving you a hard time in any way then I am giving him a piece of my mind… and I'll have to give you a piece too, for not listening to me of course."

"Perfectly reasonable."

Shortly after Quinn got off of the phone and went to bed. Before she was about to go to sleep she heard her cell phone vibrating. She picked it up and saw that she had a text message. It was from Mike and it read: _Matt doesn't believe I got the hottest girl in school to be my girlfriend. Maybe you should slip me the tongue tomorrow in front of him to prove it._

Quinn couldn't help but smile and let out a giggle. She quickly wrote back saying: _I think you're delusional from lack of sleep. Goodnight Mike. _She read it over but thought it sounded too cold or too formal to send her new boyfriend, so she decided to add _3_ to the end of the message.

She put down her phone and closed her eyes to go back to sleep when she heard another buzzing coming from her phone. She looked at the message, again from Mike, which this time said: _Okay, how about you just put your hand in my back pocket?_

Quinn rolled her eyes. There was one thing she knew and that was that teenage boys were all the same. She fumbled around on the keyboard on her cell phone and sent Mike a new message. _Definitely delusional. Go to sleep and we can discuss some light kissing in the morning._

Within seconds Mike had responded. _Open mouthed?_

Quinn shook her head. She had to give him credit, he was definitely persistent. _Goodnight Mike. Sweet Dreams. _She wrote, and then she turned her phone off so she could actually go to sleep without interruptions.

Quinn woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She had a feeling that things would be going the way she wanted them to from now on. When she returned to school she had faced competition from Santana as the Queen Bee, but Santana didn't have a boyfriend, which Quinn now did. Santana also wasn't captain of the Cheerio's which Quinn was. Not everyone had been informed of the news but Quinn made a mental note to tip Jacob Ben Israel off to the information so the blogosphere would know by the end of the day. She would be top dog. She would have her life back.

After going through her morning routine Quinn drove to school and made her way inside, keeping her head up and walking with the confidence that she knew a Queen Bee to have. She saw Mike and Matt talking in front of their lockers. Quinn walked over to them, put her arm through Mike's and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek. He smiled at her, and looked over to Matt and motioned for him to give them some privacy. Mike and Matt were such good friends that they had come to the point where they didn't even need to talk to each other to know what the other was thinking.

"I see Mike wasn't lying about the two of you so… I'll just get out of your hair. See you in math Mike. See you in Glee Club Quinn."

Quinn waved at Matt as he walked off and then felt Mike put his arm around her as they started to walk in the opposite direction. Quinn put her arm around Mike's waist and continued to walk with him.

"My mom thinks you're cute."

Mike grinned at his girlfriend's comment. "Really? I got the feeling that she didn't like me too much."

Quinn shook her head. "She's crazy psychotic that history is going to repeat itself and thus she hates all guys so don't take that personally. At dinner she said that you were cute though, and she asked if you were in Glee Club. She remembers you from Regionals. She thinks you're a good dancer."

Mike looked down at his feet and Quinn giggled. "Why can't we ever talk about your dancing? You're really good."

Mike shook his head. "I have Asian parents. They always told me it was a waste of time and I should spend more time studying. I was so afraid to dance outside of my room because I thought they were just going to yell at me and tell me to hit the books."

"Well you're good at it Mike and if you keep the humble and embarrassed act up much longer people are just going to stop giving you compliments."

Mike looked down at her and grinned. "You mean you're not going to put up with my self-conscience bull shit?"

Quinn shook her head. "I don't have the patience or the willpower to subject myself to that."

Mike dropped his arm and instead grabbed Quinn's hand so they could hold hands down the hall. His hands were warm, and soft. She heard a buzzing and realized it was his cellphone as he too it out of his pocket and read a text message.

"Who is it?" Quinn asked.

"Matt," Mike answered, "Dude says he's trapped upstairs with Santana. You know how she's a little… overwhelming? He needs me to save him. Man… I was going to impress you with my chivalry by walking you to class. Rain check?"

Quinn nodded and released her rasp from their hands so that her boyfriend could save his best friend from the Queen of Mean. She secretly wondered if Santana had heard about Mike being her new boyfriend and was now trying to seduce Matt in order to balance things out. She wouldn't put it past her ex best-friend and now frenemy.

Quinn continued walking in the direction of her homeroom class when she was blind sighted with seeing Puck making out with one of the new Cheerio's. It wasn't ad if she hadn't been hearing stories all the time of Puck hooking up with girls left, right, and centre, but she had been lucky enough and smart enough by making sure to avoid his path so that she had never actually witnessed any of it. Today however, she wasn't so lucky. There he was, shoving his tongue down some redhead's throat. His hands were reaching down lower and lower on the girl's body. Quinn was disgusted. This was at school. She thought that he still had some decency left, but she was obviously wrong.

The bell rang and the halls became crowded with people quickly trying to make their way to their homeroom class. The freshman broke apart from Puck and flirtatiously waved goodbye to him as she walked off. Puck grinned smugly and turned around to walk to class. Quinn snapped out of it and realized she couldn't have him realizing that she had been staring so she put her head up and walked right past him, not looking back. He didn't look at her either, but Quinn pretended she hadn't been paying attention to that and walked into class and sat down.

She made it through all of her classes where she was attentive and paid attention. Last year with all the baby drama her grades had slipped, but Quinn was determined to make up for them this year. It was after all the start to the new year. She sat with Mike and Matt at lunch and laughed at how the best friends would make fun of each other. They were fun to be around and she was laughing constantly. Matt had to leave with fifteen minutes to spare though as Quinn spotted Santana headed their way. Matt ran off to find a hiding spot as Mike and Quinn laughed at the situation. Santana was hot as hell, but she definitely could be very overpowering and had a tendency to scare guys off.

Before she knew it, it was the end of the day and Quinn found herself walking to Glee practice. She walked in the rehearsal room and sat beside Mike who had gotten there early. The only other people in the room were Artie and Tina who were talking about their date on Friday. Quinn sat in the chair beside Mike.

"Did you ever find out if Matt escaped from Santana?" She asked.

Mike laughed. "He texted me saying that he stayed in the boy's washroom for twenty-five minutes to avoid her. He kept asking people to go outside and see if she was still there and she apparently was just waiting outside for him the whole time. I mean, I knew they had a thing for a little bit last year but she was the one who had ended things. I thought she moved on."

Quinn's mind instantly thought that maybe she had been right. Maybe Santana was trying to get back together with Matt so that she was on even ground with Quinn. She knew how much Santana liked being the most poplar girl in school.

"I don't think anyone ever knows what's going through Santana's mind… but Id stay away from her if I were Matt. She is kind of intense."

Mike muttered how much of an understatement that was at the same time that the rest of the Glee Club started to pile in. Kurt and Mercedes walked in gossiping over the newest scandal. Brittany and Santana walked in holding pinkies. Next, Finn and Rachel came into the room holding hands. Mr. Schuster came in with a stack of sheet music in his hands. Matt walked in and sat as far away from Santana as possible. There was only one other person left to join them. He was late, as always. He contributed to the whole bad-boy image.

Rachel stood up from her seat and faced the rest of the Glee Club. "Fellow students, I know that Noah hasn't joined us yet but frankly the chances of him showing within the next few minutes aren't the greatest so as the representative of Glee Club I would just like to welcome everyone back from their hopefully enjoyable summers. i hope you all had a great time, but I also hope that you know that now it's time to get down to business. I've been mapping out potential songs and choreography to use in future numbers. As we all know, our loss at Regionals was unfortunate and unjust, but it was also a kick in the pants so that we can become bigger and better than ever! Now, the songs I have picked out are harder, and the dance routines will require more practice, but I was teaching Finn one of the numbers over the summer and he seemed to be getting the hang of it. If he can, then it's safe to say that anyone and everyone will master these numbers."

Rachel would have continued on for days and days talking as evident by how fast and enthusiastic she was being, but luckily Mr. Schue stood up from his seat by the piano and interjected.

"Rachel, I'm glad that you're excited about this year but it's only the first day. Maybe we could discuss one of your numbers after we've had time to settle in. Today I wanted to just discuss the journey we've been through and have time to reconnect."

Artie looked puzzled. "Well- why do you have those stacks of sheet music if today we're just 'reconnecting'?" He used air quotes as he said the word, and motioned to the stack of papers on top of the piano.

Rachel smiled and quickly went back into her speech, "I can explain that. I really am fully committed to this club and throughout the summer I've been printing off sheet music, highlighting which members should sing which parts and in which keys. I showed them to Mr. Schuester this morning and although he seemed less than excited about them even considering all of the time and work it took me to complete them… he promised that he would bring them to rehearsal today and at least consider passing them out."

Mercedes frowned. "Is it possible that she's become even more annoying since last year?"

Kurt nodded. "I saw her once in the summer. At the mall. She practically jumped me while asking if i was doing daily vocal exercises or mapping out dance routines. The cashier at the Fro-Yo stand thought she escaped from a mental institution."

Rachel was about to defend herself but at that moment Noah Puckerman walked into the room, wearing his letterman jacket, and muttering, "Sorr, I got caught up." to Mr. Schuester. He sat down on the only available seat left, in front of Mike and Quinn. Quinn tried not to notice the smirk he gave when he saw that they were sitting beside each other. she wondered if he had heard the news about them dating, but immediately told herself to forget about the boy who had recently grown back his mohawk and was sitting in front of her.

Mr. Schue motioned for Rachel to sit down as well and she complied. "Now that you're all hear I think we should all go around the room and say hear about what each person did this summer. It's been a long while I'm sure since some of you have seen each other. Does anyone want to start us off?"

Quinn knew that she would be the last person who would want to talk about what she had done in the summer. She had spent almost all of her time with Puck and it was clear now that it had been a mistake. She quickly tried to think of something else to tell the group so that she wouldn't have to think any more of the boy who had hurt her so much.

Rachel rose her hand, eager as always. She stood up (which wasn't necessary), again turned to face the group and said, "Well, as i'm sure you all know by now, me and Finn are an item so much of my time was spent with him, but I also went to a six week day camp for teenagers who trying to become future broadway stars. There were amazing teachers and vocal coaches. My talent, though it really didn't need too much, has managed to become greater than ever. The other kids were mediocre - at best - compared to me, and seemed to form a jealousy filled grudge against me because of the intense compliments I was being paid."

Quinn rolled her eyes. It wasn't a surprise that Rachel would turn something so simple into a chance to gloat about herself. Quinn couldn't handle her and was surprised that Finn could stand her enough to actually be her boyfriend.

Mr. Schue motioned for Finn to go next. "I played a lot of football, practicing for the new season. i'm hoping that we might actually win more than one game this year. I played some video games. And yeah, me and Rachel hung out a lot."

Kurt was up. "My grandmother in England invited me to stay with her for two weeks. The shopping is extraordinary in London. Also, if you look to my right you can see that Mercedes has ditched the weave for a more natural, but sexy sassy short bob, and that my friends is courtesy of moi. I've also been recruited to the football team once again in hopes that they can beat their winning record of 1 game so I unfortunately had to waste perfect shopping or facial opportunities on practices."

Mercedes laughed and then said, "Well yes I have upgraded my sexbomb status with my new haircut, but I also got a job at Burger King so I spent a lot of the time working. Other than that i was hanging out with my Bff Kurt and my girl Quinn."

Quinn smiled and remembered all the times she would get phone calls and hear Mercedes complain about her job and hating having to be nice to extremely rude customers.

"I spent a lot of time at the aquarium," Britney said as she appeared in a daze, "One night I got lost after closing hours. I had to sleep beside the dolphin exhibit since gay animals seem the least threatening."

Santana rolled her eyes at her best friend, but smiled. "I was busy being popular. Hanging out at the beach, going to parties, and spending time with a few guys. Me and Matt hung out a lot."

Matt shook his head fast. "We hung out once."

Santana sighed. "And you loved it Matty."

Quinn giggled. Matt had told her at lunch how Santana had started calling him Matty and how much he absolutely despised it. She realized he hadn't been lying.

Artie stopped what seemed to be in the mist of becoming a confrontation and announced, "I was playing a lot of guitar. I'm pretty much a guitar god now. Tina and I hung out a lot as well."

Tina nodded. "He tried to teach me guitar. It didn't work out too well but I can play a few chords. My parents and I also went on vacation to Florida for a couple weeks. My mom thought she saw Kristen Stewart at a Burger King and was about to give her a piece of her mind until she realized it was a cardboard cutout. "

Matt was next to talk about his summer holiday. "I went to the pool a lot with Mike. We were scoping out some girls- I mean I was, he's much too much of a gentleman to try and hookup with random girls. I also played video games, went to parties, trained for football and worked at Pizza Hut."

"And hung out with me." Santana reminded him.

"Once."

Quinn looked at Mike and smiled. "You didn't tell me about all of these pool hookups." She teased.

Mike laughed nervously. "Would it help if I told you I have no game with the ladies and only managed to get to first base with one girl?"

Quinn smiled. "It does actually. But we weren't together so don't worry about it."

It was now Mike's turn. "Yeah I hung out at the pool, went to some parties, I also worked at Pizza Hut. Nothing too cool. I did win a dance contest they were having at the beach one day. I won a cooler."

Quinn giggled and then realized it was her turn. She gulped. She knew that everyone had least an inclination of what she had been doing in the summer but she wasn't about to bring it all up. Especially since things were over. Instead she said, "I worked out… a lot. And then I convinced Coach Sylvester to put me back on Cheerio's. Now I'm captain again. Things are back to normal."

She sighed after she was done, relieved but then she realized Puck was the last one to discuss his summer plans. She prayed that he wouldn't be a huge jerk and reveal all the intimate details of their summer. Her heart was beating fast and she felt terribly uncomfortable.

"This summer… well," Puck made it a point to look behind at Quinn, "I pretty much wasted all of my time."

Quinn was glad that he hadn't said anything to embarrass or humiliate her, but she was surprised at how hurt she was at his comment. She didn't know why she was so hurt, but she knew that she felt bad and that her stomach was in knots. She put her game face on though and acted like she hadn't even heard his comment. He wasn't going to bring her down.

Mr. Schuester clapped his hands together, sensing the awkwardness and said, "Well now that that's out of the way, I want to welcome you all back to Glee Club. It's going to be a wild ride this year. Last year we were good, but not good enough. This year we're going to have to make sure that we're better than we've ever been. It'll be tough but I have faith in every single one of you. But we don't just have to get better, we also have to get bigger. That's why there will be open auditions starting next week to find some new members for the club."

Obviously Mr. Schue had thought that the club would have been over the moon at this proclamation, but he received the opposite reaction. The members of the club groaned, or even booed at his statement. "What's wrong with adding new members?" He asked.

"We're a good group with just the 12 of us," Tina explained, "The whole dynamic of the group will be thrown off if we add new members."

Kurt nodded his head in agreement. "Even though I was less than thrilled when some of the members of this group joined… we're almost like a family now. Plus, everyone sans Finn and Rachel are already fighting for solos. I'm sure everyone isn't jumping out of their seats about having more competition to actually sing more than a harmony."

Mercedes nodded and folded her arms over her chest. "With more people it's a guarantee that all you'll be giving me is some huge note to wail on at the end of the song. This is idea is terrible Mr. Schue."

Mr. Schuester shook his head and put his hands up to explain. "Guys, I know that you all aren't pleased with how many songs you get to sing but the simple truth is that we need new members. We need 12 members to perform at competitions. What if at regionals Quinn's water had broke just 15 minutes earlier? Her and Puck would have had to leave, we'd be down to 10 members, and we'd be disqualified. Now an event that extreme probably won't happen again, but what if one of you got sick right before we had to perform? Or what if one of you fell and broke your leg? We need new members not only to sound better and be more dynamic, but also has a sort of insurance policy."

Quinn frowned and was upset that Mr. Schuester felt the need to bring up her humiliating pregnancy from last year. How was she ever going to move past it and have people forget about the incident if people kept bringing it back up?

The group seemed more relaxed after hearing the reasoning behind the decision. it did make sense, and the last thing anyone of them wanted was to be disqualified from the competitions.

"See, it isn't so ridiculous to suggest now," Mr. Schue said, "I'll be busy with auditions next week so I was thinking I could just give you an assignment to keep you all busy and reconnect you with Glee club until I'm finished with everything."

Santana laughed. "How long do you really think that's going to take?"

Mr. Schue shrugged his shoulders innocently. "I don't know. I was thinking two or three days."

Santana smirked. "Really? Haven't you gotten it by now that no one wants to join Glee Club? It's a guarantee that joining this club will result in a nosedive of your popularity. You'll be lucky if one loser decides to risk his excuse for a reputation and try out."

Britney nodded in agreement to support her friend. "Yeah, I wouldn't have joined Glee if Quinn hadn't told me to."

Quinn smiled and remembered the time when she had complete control over everyone and anyone. Those were the days. She comforted herself and told herself that she would soon be in that position very shortly.

"Guys, what's going on? I thought you all liked being in this club?"

Finn quickly replied to his teacher, "We do. We all do Mr. Schue but that's because we're in it. In the beginning there were only 5 people that were brave enough to actually join the club."

Mr Schuester sighed. "Listen, we've won Sectionals and we did amazing at Regionals. I'm sure there's enough buzz going on that people are starting to warm up to the idea. In any case I'm giving you an assignment to get things back and running. It's a simple task. Just choose a song that reflects you or your life at this moment and everyone will be singing it in front of the Club. Next Friday we'll see. Until then make sure you practice and wish me luck recruiting some new members. Apparently I'll need it."

The Glee club then went into vocal exercise to warm up their voices from their break over the summer. It was standard practicing and was over shortly. There was still a half an hour left of practice and after four minutes of nonstop whining Mr. Schue relented and let Rachel pass out the sheet music to one (and one only) of the songs that she had been organizing for weeks. After much consideration she picked 'Circus' by Britney Spears because as she said, "It's the simplest song singing wise that's an option and it's obvious that some people aren't ready for more complicated numbers."

Quinn could have sworn that Rachel looked at her when she said that and frankly it pissed her off. Sure, Rachel was a good singer, but she had zero social awareness and was the most annoying person anyone could possibly meet. Quinn made it a mental note that once she was on better terms with Finn to ask him how he could possibly date her. It wasn't like he hated her anymore, but he had made it clear that though he was over the whole situation, he wasn't ready to be best friends - at least not yet. Quinn was willing to respect his wishes, but she hoped that soon things would be a lot better between the two of them.

It only took the club twenty minutes until they were done with the number. Rachel was being very nit-picky and wanted everything completely perfect on the first try. She got extremely frustrated very easily and could not take criticism regarding her leadership tactics.

However, Quinn could say one good thing that she noticed had changed about Rachel. She had seemed to understand the concept of sharing. The song was not just a duet between her and Finn with the rest of the club coming in during the chorus. Finn, Rachel, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, and Quinn all got solos. She claimed that this was the type of song for girls to sing the majority of and that she simply chose Artie and Finn because their voices suited the song best - but in no means was she trying to say they sounded like girls. Quinn was initially happy to have a part in the song, even if this was a number made up by Rachel that would most likely be trashed by the days end. However she was annoyed that Rachel had said, "And Quinn, you get a part too! I made sure of it." She sensed pity in her rival's voice. It seemed more of a 'I'm sorry you had to be pregnant for all of last year and lose all of your popularity and then in the end you gave your baby away so here's a part in the song to make up for it all' sort of thing rather than a 'You're a really good singer and your voice would sound amazing on this part'.

The part she got to sing was in the second chorus. "There's only two types of guys out there. Ones that can hang with me and ones that are scared." After that Tina came in to sing "So baby, i hope that you came prepared. I run a tight ship so beware." It was a small part, just two lines, but only half of the club had actual parts so she was happy with what she had.

At least she was for a while, but every time she sang her part Rachel stopped them and told Quinn to start over. After the fourth time of making Quinn stop Rachel also told her, "Quinn you have to really pay attention when singing! You're starting to sound way too sharp!"

That was all Quinn could take. She hated being bossed around and insulted, and she especially hated it when Rachel was the one behind it all. She also knew that she couldn't let everyone see her being made fun of and belittled by one of the least popular girls in the whole school. She lashed out. "Listen Alexis Arquette, unless you want a smackdown you should really back the hell off me! You're not our coach so stop being pathetic by playing make believe and learn your place!"

She was rocking her bitch face and bitch tone as she said it. Even her stance, with one hand on her hip, provoked the image of power. Rachel was at a loss for words. The club was silent for a moment until Mr. Schuester stood up and said, "I think that's enough for one day guys. It's getting a little heated so why don't we call it a day and you can all go home and get started on your assignments?"

Rachel looked at Mr. Schue like a sad puppy dog. "But we didn't even make it to choreography!"

"I know Rachel but it's getting late. We'll save it for another day. Tell you what, we'll even do a couple Britney numbers."

Rachel sighed but complied and sat back down and started packing her bag. The rest of the club did the same. As Quinn put her tote bag on her shoulder Mike turned to her and asked, "Dave Karofsky's having a party tomorrow night. Want to go?"

Quinn shook her head. "I hate Karofsky."

"I hate him too. Everyone does but he's got a huge house with a pool, and he promised a ton of alcohol and that no one has to even pitch in. It'll be fun. Please?"

Quinn noticed that Puck was hanging back, and she just knew that he was listening in to her conversation with Mike. After what he said about wasting his time with her, she felt that he deserved to at least be aware that she had moved on. "So would this be like our first official outing as a couple?"

Mike smiled. "It would appear that way."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "And you really want to go… don't you?"

"I mean the guy is a douche but it's going to be an awesome party. I don't want to go if you don't want to though. We could go out for dinner or something instead but… this is going to be a lot more fun."

"Fine," Quinn replied, "You're lucky I'm a really good girlfriend and I'm willing to go to the hugest douche on the planet's party."

She made sure to stress the word girlfriend as she knew Puck was still listening in. She doubted that the revelation would hurt him in any way, he wasn't the type to get worked up about these sorts of things, but she hoped that it would sting at least a bit. Maybe he had hooked up with girls before she had hooked up with a guy, but she was the first one to start a new relationship. That meant much more.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a lucky guy, but let's get out of here." Mike took her hand and they walked out of the choir room. Quinn looked back and saw that Puck was watching them walk out while holding hands. She quickly turned her head back around, not wanting him to think that she was purposefully trying to see his reaction.

Mike walked her out to her car. "Do you want a ride home?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I got the car today so I drove it here. Thanks though."

She nodded and told him, "You're picking me up tomorrow at 7:30. Don't be late, but don't be early either because I need time to get ready." She made sure to be forceful and let him know that it wasn't a request, but a command. Quinn didn't always treat her men like dogs, but she knew that she had to order them around sometimes so that her hold on them would remain intact. Her older sister had actually taught her that trick.

Mike wasn't offended and just nodded in agreement. "That's fine, but… you know yesterday in your text message you did mention some light kissing."

Quinn laughed. "Have you been waiting all day to mention that?"

"Maybe… but I've been brought up to keep my promises so I just assumed that you were raised the same."

Quinn smiled and stood on her tip toes to give her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Good enough?" She asked.

Mike shook his head and leaned down to kiss her on the mouth. Quinn counted to 5 Mississippi in her head and then broke away from the kiss. "Pick me up on time, and there'll be more of that tomorrow."

With that, Quinn opened the door to her car and got into the driver's seat. She waved at Mike as she drove off. When she got home her mother was in the living room, drinking a glass of wine. She turned to Quinn and asked, "Did he break up with you?"

Quinn shook her head. "No he didn't."

"I told you. You have to listen to your mother more Quinnie."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "I didn't seriously think he was going to dump me mom. I mean, I'm Quinn Fabray. I'm kind of a big deal."

The next school day came and went without a lot of commotion. Quinn had Cheerio's practice after school and was thankful that after the weekly weigh-in it was announced that she had lost a pound. The choreography for the new routine was top notch and Coach Sylvester had even complimented her flip. She had noticed Santana giving her a dirty look after the compliment, which obviously meant she was jealous. Jealousy equaled popularity in McKinley. Things were looking up.

After getting ready, and deciding to wear a pair of skinny jeans and a black tank top (not the usual look for Quinn but she knew she looked hot in it and she wanted to remind everyone of the fact) Mike showed up at exactly 7:30. Quinn wondered if he might have shown up at 7:25 and just waited in his car until 7:30 to ensure that he was on time but she wasn't going to press the subject. In any case she now knew that Mike would listen to her.

She called to her mom that she was leaving and then got into the passenger seat of Mike's car. She giggled. "I kind of thought you were going to pick me up in a mini van. I saw you driving one to a party last year. I was actually scared for both our sakes."

Mike shook his head. "I had to drive my mom's car then because mine was in the shop. But don't worry, I wouldn't dare make a girl as smokin as you show up to a party in a loser cruiser."

"That's a wise decision Mike Chang. Is Matt coming to this party?"

Matt turned the corner and kept his eyes on the road as he said, "Yeah. He asked Britney if her and Santana were coming and when she said that they were having a sleepover at her house instead Matt decided that he was coming. What's with those two? They're best friends but then they're really close. Like really close, and then Santana is all over Matt and Britney's all over every guy and even a lot of girls."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "They're best friends with benefits. I know it's not the usual boy girl couple but that's what they are. At least, that's what I was seeing when we used to be friends. Now we're more like frenemies so I don't hang out with them as much."

Mike nodded and then asked, "Do you know what song you're doing for the Glee Club assignment?"

Quinn shook her head. "I haven't even thought about it. I've been busy with Cheerio's today and plus, we still have a week. Why, did you already pick out a song?"

Mike shook his head. "I know I want to do something where I can show off my dancing, but I don't know what song."

Mike parked on the streetcorner across the road from Dave's house. No one was out on the lawn being stupidly drunk yet, but it was early. Everyone was inside at the moment, or out by the pool and hot tub area. Mike and Quinn made their way inside the house holding hands. Quinn saw that all eyes were on them. People started whispering to each other. This was it, if anyone didn't know about them yet they would after tonight. Quinn knew that they were for sure going to be McKinley High's new It Couple.

Quinn only had one bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonaide. She knew what could happen when she had too much to drink so she held off. Mike had one beer. He was about to have another but Quinn stopped him. "You're driving me home tonight."

Mike put the beer bottle back down. "You mean I can't get even a little wasted?"

Quinn shook her head. "I'm not getting into a car accident because you wanted to be an idiot."

Mike sighed but then his face brightened up, like he had an idea. "How about you drive me home and then drive back to your house. Tomorrow you can bring my car back to my house and we can just hang out. Then I'll drop you back off and everything works just fine."

Quinn sighed but finally agreed. Mike put his hand up asking for a high five. Quinn left him hanging. "Next time we're getting a taxi."

Mike nodded his head in agreement and quickly grabbed another beer bottle. As he drank it, the couple moved from the kitchen into the living room where more people were. Quinn saw that Finn was there, and he brought Rachel, who stuck out like a sore thumb. Mike led Quinn to the couch and motioned for her to sit on his lap. Quinn did so and wrapped an arm around his neck.

Matt came over to the pair. "Britney said they weren't coming! But then apparently she told Santana that I asked and she took it as I wanted her to come! I just escaped from her. She was hanging on me like an octopus!"

Mike laughed. "Sorry dude, I can't help you tonight. I'm busy with my girl." He put his arm around Quinn's waist.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Are you seriously going to become our Yoko Ono?"

Quinn shook her head. "I wouldn't be able to split you two apart if I tried. But, it is kind of entertaining to watch you try and escape from Santana."

"Why don't you just go for it? She's hot and obviously willing to give it up without you having to do the whole boyfriend thing."

Matt laughed. "Yeah and then I can be just like Puck. He can't date any girl without having Santana try and get in a scrap with them. Believe me, I don't want her messing with every other girl I try to hook up with."

Mike shrugged his shoulders. "Well I guess you're on your own then. And i'd start running if I were you. She's coming this way."

Matt immediately started speed walking out to the backyard. Quinn giggled and turned to face Mike. "You're cute." She whispered.

"You're hot." He replied. He then leaned in and kissed her. He grabbed a handful of her hair and kept his other hand firmly on her waist. She could feel him smiling as he kissed her. Quinn knew that everyone was staring at the two of them. She didn't blame them, they were a hot couple. Maybe they hadn't been the golden couple that her and Finn had been, but they were at least an It Couple. Quinn was perfectly satisfied. Plus, Mike was fun, and could crack her up. He was more than just a popularity boost.

Quinn felt buzzing in Mike's pocket from his cell phone. He ignored it the first time and continued to kiss her. He ignored it the second time. Finally, after the third time he sighed and pulled away from Quinn. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at the text message. He slammed his fist in the couch.

"I told him I couldn't save him tonight but now he's complaining about being trapped in a corner with Santana basically trying to rape him."

Quinn put her hand on the side of Mike's face. "Help him. I'll be here when you get back."

Mike shook his head. "You can go. Enjoy the party. I'll text you when I'm done saving the moron. But… one more kiss for the road?"

Quinn nodded and pulled his head in closer to hers and kissed him passionately on the mouth. When they broke apart Mike smiled and said, "I'll be back soon."

Quinn stood up from Mike's lap and watched him walk off to go find Matt. She started walking to find someone else to hang out with until Mike was finished. There was no one she wanted to talk to on the first level. The party was full of a lot of Karofsky's friends and they, like him, were arrogant assholes. She was about to settle for watching a beer pong game but then saw Alice Johnson walking upstairs. Quinn realized it wasn't off limits like at some parties, or at least Karofsky wasn't enforcing the rule, and walked upstairs to see who was there. She walked to the end of the hallway and tried to deflect off some Cheerio's who were way too peppy for her liking. As she told one of them that kissing ass was not going to get her to the top of the pyramid she felt someone grab her arm and pull her into a dark bedroom. Her heart started racing and she started punching air, searching for whoever had grabbed her.

"Relax," She heard and the lights were flicked on. Quinn saw that it was Puck. He locked the bedroom door.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" She screamed.

Puck looked her in the eyes. She could see that he was angry. "You're with Mike now?"

Quinn guessed that he had witnessed their show downstairs. "What does it matter to you?"

"It's only been three weeks since things ended."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and in between that time you've slept with more girls than I have fingers and toes. Back off Puck."

Puck sat down on the bed. "You slept with him yet?"

Quinn stayed standing in the exact same place, right beside the door with her arms crossed over her chest. "That is so not any of your business but no we haven't. We just became official a couple of days ago."

He nodded his head. Quinn sighed. "You didn't want to be with me Puck."

She hated that he was doing this to her. she hated how he always was reminding her of the time they had been together. She was trying so desperately to move on. Quinn couldn't understand how he could be so over her one second, and then the next throw her mixed signals. He confused her way too much. That's why she liked being with Mike. with him there was no confusion. Everything was just so simple.

"I didn't… I don't. I just didn't think that you'd be hooking up with my friend. It's not like I care about you or anything but… it's low Quinn. It's a bitch move."

Quinn laughed. "I'm not doing this to mess with you Puck. Don't flatter yourself. I like Mike and I'm his girlfriend. It's time for you to accept it and move on with your life."

Puck's voice immediately turned defensive and it was filled with anger. "Don't get bitchy with me Quinn! I am over it! This summer was a complete waste of time and I'm glad it's over. I was just surprised that you had turned into a skank and decided to date my friend. Is being an ex's friend some sort of prerequisite for you?"

Quinn wanted to slap him but she kept her composure. She instead muttered a "Fuck you," and unlocked the door to the bedroom. She ran down the stairs and did her best to hold back her tears. As she made it to the bottom of the staircase she saw Rachel and Finn.

Rachel smiled. "Quinn I hope we can put that moment at Glee Club yesterday in the past. It's a fresh start and I don't want to have any enemies in the club this year."

Quinn frowned. "Rachel, I know social situations are hard for you but listen carefully because I'm going to lay one on you right now. We're not friends. We will never be friends. I don't want to be your friend. You disgust me more than Ke$ha who refuses to shower. Leave me alone!"

Quinn stormed off as she heard Finn assure Rachel that she didn't look like she didn't shower. Quinn wanted to find Mike. She looked at her cell phone but she hadn't received any new text messages. How long did it take to go rescue Matt? She was becoming very agitated quickly.

She just wanted to hang out with him and have him kiss her so she could forget about everything else. She didn't care if she had to practically dry hump with him in front of everyone on the couch, she just wanted to forget about what Puck had just said and to feel wanted. It was obvious that he didn't want her, and she was fine with that, but she wanted to feel like someone liked her and wanted to be with her. She knew Mike did, but she had to feel it immediately. It was hurting too much to be alone at the moment.

Quinn looked through the crowds of people but couldn't find him. She didn't see Matt either. She was so tempted to drink away her sorrows but she knew that she had to be responsible for driving herself and Mike home so she refrained. Her cell phone buzzed and Quinn took it out of her pocket to see if what the text message said. It wasn't Mike as she expected, but Puck.

Puck: Come back upstairs. We need to talk.

Quinn rolled her eyes. This was the way things had always been. He acted like a huge jackass and immediately thought that she would be able to forgive him. He didn't realize that his actions and his words had consequences. That's why Quinn quickly wrote Not a chance and put her phone back into her front pocket. She started heading out towards the backyard when she was stopped by Britney.

"Your boyfriend is being totally lame."

Quinn rolled her eyes at the ditzy way the girl always talked. "What's he doing?'

Britney pointed out to the doors leading out to the backyard. "He's totally wasted and making Santana lose her chance with Matt. I tried to make out with him so he would go away but he didn't go for it."

Quinn was happy inside that even if Mike was as drunk as Britney said he still refused to make out with her. Especially since she knew that the two had some sort of relationship shortly last year. She brushed past Britney and made her way out to the pool. She saw Mike, stumbling like an idiot near Matt while Santana looked on at the two, obviously annoyed. Quinn walked up to them.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Quinn asked Matt, pointing at Mike who was struggling to stand up straight.

Matt's face brightened up. He exaggeratedly said, "Oh thank goodness you found us Quinn! He's drunk out of his mind and since you're our designated driver we couldn't leave till you found us! Now that you have... I guess we should get going!"

Quinn was confused but nodded her head. She mouthed the word 'Sorry' out to Santana, received an obligatory eye roll, and walked off with Matt and Mike. Mike had one arm around Matt and one around Quinn so that they could hold him steady as they walked out to his car. Matt decided to sit in the backseat with Mike so that he wouldn't do anything stupid and Quinn took the keys from Mike so she could drive.

"You're pretty... like an an angel kind of pretty." Mike slurred out as he leaned forward form his seat and stroked Quinn's hair. She batted his hand away so she could forces on driving.

"What the hell did he have to drink? He was practically sober when he left me."

Matt nervously laughed. "Well... he tried to get Santana away from me but she wasn't getting the message. She just yelled at him to give us privacy. So he got drunk so that she couldn't blame him for being an idiot and then whenever you came outside we would be able to call you over and say we needed our designated driver to drive us home. He thought it was pretty smart."

Quinn got her bitch face on. "Have you ever thought that maybe you could just grow some balls and tell Santana that you weren't interested and that she should just back off?"

Mike laughed and pointed at Matt. "Grow some balls dude!"

"Shut up," Matt told him and turned his attention back to Quinn, "Yeah I've thought about that but& she's kind of scary, don't you think?"

"No one scares me. Especially not a girl who cries if her tanning time is cut off by rain or Coach Sylvester."

Matt sighed. "Well what would I even say so that she wouldn't hold some pointless grudge?"

Quinn looked in the mirror and saw that Mike was passed out on the side of his car. He was drooling. Quinn made a mental reminder to never be around him if he was going to be this sloppy again. She then shrugged her shoulders in response to Matt's question. "How am I supposed to know? I just say things outright without worrying what the other person thinks. But& you could just tell her that she's too intense for you. Think of a better word for intense though& something like she needs a guy that could give her a lot of attention and you're just not the guy to do it. It might not work but make sure it's clear that you're rejecting her gently. She'll get the message and back away. She wouldn't want other people realizing that she's making a fool of herself."

Matt smiled. "You're really good at advice Quinn."

She shook her head. "I got pregnant when I was sixteen Matt with my boyfriend's best friend. I'm kind of the poster child for what not to do."

Matt slumped back into his seta and didn't press the subject. The rest of the car ride was silent. Quinn dropped Mike off at his house first and Matt helped her get him inside through the back door so his parents would be less likely to see him in his extremely drunken state. Matt walked Mike up to his room to throw him on his bed while Quinn waited at the back door. He came back down so Quinn could drive him home but she held a hand up to stop him.

"He's such an idiot. He's really drunk. One of us has to stay with him in case he ends up throwing up and chokes on his own vomit or something like that one guy in that hippy band. My mom will kill me if I don't come home so I vote that you do it."

Matt sighed and whispered, "He snores though!"

Quinn looked at Matt and gave him her death glare. "He got majorly drunk to help you escape from Santana! He's your best friend and he just did you a favour. Man up Rutherford and stay with him. You're acting like a real wuss right now."

Matt relented and Quinn left to drive Mike's car back to her house. She parked it on the side of the street and walked into her house and up to her bedroom. After washing her face and brushing her teeth she collapsed on her bed and looked at the time. It was 1:00. The party would be ending in another hour or two. Quinn drifted off to sleep as she thought about her new life now and how it wasn't like it had been a year ago but was also nice, pleasant and simple.

_Author's Note: (PLEASE READ! =D )_

_If you have read through this thank you so much! I have worked so long and hard on this chapter so I very much appreciate those who have read it all._

_I am a huge Puck/Quinn story and rest assured that this story is ultimately about them but this first massive chapter had to lay all of the groundwork down. I know there wasn't too much interaction between them but this chapter was to set the whole story up. The next chapter will be jampacked with lots of Quick goodness including at least one (but most like two or three) flashbacks of the summer they spent together!_

_This story will also have Mike/Quinn as is pretty obvious so you will have to expect that, but Puck and Quinn will always be my favourite couple so it's pretty safe to say where this story will end up!_

_Now I would like to request some feedback. The next chapter will probably be long as well. Most likely around the same length of this chapter. Would you prefer me to upload it as one big chapter or as two or three smaller chapters? Either or is fine with me._

_Also any review that you can give, doesn't matter if it's one word, one sentence, one paragraph, etc. it would mean so much to me! Writers live for feedback afterall! SO please, if you have the time please leave a review!_

_I've just been back form a long writing break where I came down with writer's block. :P I'm all better now and anxious to write! I hope you all enjoy this story!_

_So once again I would extremely appreciate any reviews that you could spare! :)_

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	2. It's Starting to Get to Me

_Quinn and Puck were driving to her house from their date one Friday night. School was starting back up in two weeks. They had gone out to the Olive Garden and were now going to hang out at Quinn's house for the rest of the night. Mrs. Fabray seemed to have no problems with Puck staying over. He was the only one that could make Quinn stop crying after she had given up her daughter, and after putting Quinn on the pill she seemed to decide that the best thing for her daughter was to let her be happy. If being happy meant that she needed her boyfriend (or whatever he happened to be) to sleep over some nights when things got too rough, then Mrs. Fabray was okay with the situation. She also knew it was a perfect way to get back at her husband, which was always a plus. _

_ Quinn hadn't originally planned on having sex again so soon after having a child and giving her up for adoption. She hadn't even planned on being with Puck. She thought that she would be alone this summer, simply working out so that when school returned she could try and become popular again. Things had changed though when the first night she returned home from the hospital she couldn't stop crying. She knew that she had to go to sleep but all she could do was bawl her eyes out. She started rethinking things and wondering if giving her baby up was the right thing. She was so scared that she called Puck and begged him to come to her house immediately. He complied and they spent the night with her crying on her bed and him holding her, stroking her hair, and telling her that they did what was best for Beth and things were going to turn out okay. Quinn could've sworn that he had even teared up that night, but she didn't want to embarrass him so she never brought it up._

_ After that night it was routine for Quinn to call Puck if she couldn't stop crying before bed. That was the time the tears came. Throughout the day she tried to keep herself as busy as possible so she wouldn't have to think about everything but at night there wasn't anything to do _but _think about giving Beth up to Shelby. She missed her so much. She felt so empty. Every night for the first week Puck had come over after getting a call from Quinn and he would hold her throughout the night. They didn't have a title. They weren't even doing anything. She needed him though and he needed her. _

_ After coming over for the fifth time to comfort Quinn, she had something to ask Puck. "Did you mean what you said… about loving me?"_

_ She was laying on her side in her bed and he was laying behind her as he had his arms around her. She felt his arms tighten around her, not too tight that it hurt, but tighter as he wanted to be closer. "Yes."_

_ Quinn smiled and brought a hand up to her face to wipe the tears away. "Thank you for coming here."_

_ Puck leaned his head in and kissed her lightly on the ear. "Do you ever think we could be together, for real this time?"_

_ Quinn's instant reaction was to shake her head. She felt Puck's grasp loosen as she said it though so she quickly explained herself. "We're no good together. We'd get angry at each other all the time. We'd get jealous too much. Everything would be ruined. I care about you… so much, but we're not meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend."_

_ Puck leaned in again and whispered in her ear, "Is it just because you're scared?"_

_ She gulped. It wasn't the only reason that she didn't think they would work out, but it was one major reason. She was terrified of him hurting her. She didn't want to say she loved him until she was absolutely sure, she had already made that mistake with Finn, but she definitely had serious feelings for him, and she didn't want to open herself up completely to Puck and end up having him cheat on her or break her heart. It would be too much to bear. Being here and holding her, that's all she expected out of him. He couldn't hurt her this way. She desperately wanted more, but she wanted to protect her heart more. You see, if they broke up then she not only would be crying at night about Beth, but also about him, and that time there would be no one to come over to hug her. _

_ She shook her head. "We really just aren't meant to be Puck. I think the universe has been trying to tell us that for a while now." _

_ He rolled her over so that she was now facing him. Her heart raced as he pulled her in closer to him and kept his mouth ever so close to his for what seemed like hours (but what was probably only seconds), and then kissing her. Their lips seemed to melt together. He was still holding her as he kissed her, protecting her from all that had hurt her. She had her hands crossed and clutched against her body, but once she began to respond to ht ekes after the shock had worn off, she straightened her arms out and then clutched them around Puck's back. He took one arm form around her to stroke her hair as he traced circles on her back with his other arm. After around five minutes he broke from the kiss. _

_ He smirked. "You can't tell me that wasn't nice."_

_ She bit her lip. "You'd break my heart Puck." She whispered it, almost hoping he wouldn't hear. She had always had trouble opening up to people, and she had never been this honest with a boy. She had always put a wall up to make herself seem like she was immune to being hurt. It felt different being with Puck though, as if she could be honest and he wouldn't judge her for it._

_ He took one of her hands and enveloped it into his. "You're different Quinn. This is different than anything I've ever been in. I'd be good to you."_

_ She shook her head. "After what happened Puck… I'm just not ready to have a boyfriend. I can't let myself get hurt. You have to understand."_

_ He kissed her lightly on the lips. "But you like that?"_

_ She nodded. "But it doesn't change anything."_

_ He stroked her hair. "And you like me coming over every night?"_

_ She nodded once again._

_ "And you like talking with me?"_

_ She nodded again for the third time, but then smirked. "Except when you go off on your rants about video games."_

_ He made a face at her and then squeezed the hand of hers that he was holding. "We don't have to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Titles are lame anyways. We could just be two people who spend a lot of time not hooking up with other people."_

_ Quinn honestly wanted to be with Puck so badly. He had been so sweet lately and been there for here throughout this hard time. He had told her he loved her, and still did. She wanted him more than anything. She just didn't know if she should jump into anything so soon. However, his new proposition was interesting. Doing what they wanted with each other, and having all the basic qualities of a relationship without actually having a relationship seemed like something she could get behind. It ad to save her from some of the pain. In any case, it didn't seem like he was going to go anywhere soon. He even had made it a point to say that there weren't going to be any others. She needed clarification on that._

_ "No sexting?" She asked._

_ He shook his head. "It'll be me and you."_

_ She smiled. It seemed so wonderful, there had to be a downfall somewhere. However, after what she had been through, Quinn wanted to ignore all of the future consequences and just focus on what she wanted in the present._

_ "I'd like that." She then waited for him to lean in and kiss her, which they spent the majority of their night doing before she drifted off to sleep and he continued to hold her, as sometimes she would dream about giving Beth up and she would shiver, whimper, and shake in her sleep._

_ After that night things changed between Puck and Quinn. They became more reclusive and they spent the majority of their time together, Quinn still made time for Kurt and Mercedes and Puck hung out with his friends often, but for the most part they were with each other. They never put a title on their relationship but just let things go they way they were going. _

_ Quinn's mom quickly put Quinn on the pill when she found out that puck had been sneaking over. Though Quinn swore to her mother that they weren't having sex, Mrs. Fabray said that she wasn't going to be a grandmother for the second time so soon no matter what._

_This advice seemed to be good as one night after spending the night at the nearby State Park for a fireworks show the pair ended up tangled in each other on Quinn's bed. Quickly clothes started coming off and Quinn's heart was racing faster than ever. She had sat up to stop things from going so fast, but after a brief conversation with Puck where he promised that she was the only girl he was focusing on and that he loved her she decided that she should give in to what she wanted, as she was on the pill and he promised to also wear a condom. Things were safe this time, they were together (at least as together as was possible for her) and she couldn't help but want to have sex. Her hormones were running wild and she accepted that sex was not something to be ashamed of. It was a natural thing; the only thing Quinn worried about was being a skank. However this was the same guy she had lost her virginity to. He loved her. It was hardly a slutty thing to do to have sex with him. That's why she came to the conclusion to add sex to the relationship. She kissed him to start things up and once all of their clothes had come off and Quinn realized that it was going to happen soon she decided to say something she had been holding in for a long time._

_ "I love you Puck." She whispered._

_ She noticed that he gave a genuine smile. it wasn't one of his smug smirks or a cheesy grin. It was the real deal. He kissed her lips and replied, "I love you too."_

_ After that night they became even more serious with each other. Quinn still wasn't ready to put any labels such as boyfriend/girlfriend on them though. She was dead set on protecting her heart, and even though she loved the boy and knew that he was honest when he told her that he loved him, she also knew his history and wasn't ready to do anything too risky just yet. _

_ Their relationship was peaceful though, and happy. They made each other laugh and they were always smiling around the other. He was starting to change into more of a gentleman - even though he would say crude comments and she could never get him to stop checking out girls in public, but he was being sweet to her and that's what counted. Quinn was opening up more, something she didn't do ever. She talked to Puck about her parents' divorce, her desire to become head Cheerio again, her fears that she still would be ignored when they went back to school, and of course Beth. Beth was a topic that came up with them occasionally as they didn't want to be constantly reminded of the pain, but they both knew that the other was thinking of her all the time. There were still nights that Quinn had to call Puck over to hold her as she wept. It soon became a pattern of him sleeping over either because they were being intimate or because she needed comfort. He was there either way._

_ "I've never been like this with a girl." He told her one Thursday night as they laid on their backs on her bed, wrapped up in one another after having sex._

_ "I know." She wanted to tell him that she was proud of him and that he had surprised her so much. She had been expecting to hear he was sexting another girl or flirting with Santana. She had expected such things so she wouldn't get her hopes up. it didn't take her long though to realize that he was only wanting to be with her. Quinn wanted to explain that all to him, but she refrained as she didn't want to be seen as a sap. _

_ Puck kissed her forehead. "Not even with a girlfriend. I've always cheated, or at least almost cheated. I used to not be able to resist a pair of boobs but it's different now. I can't even think about cheating on you. Well, when we weren't having sex I may have thought about it once, but only once I swear. Now, this just seems too good to mess up."_

_ Quinn rolled her eyes. She understood what Puck was saying but he didn't have the best filter. She playfully swatted him. "So this is all about the sex then?"_

_ He didn't play into her games. He continued to look up at the ceiling. "You know it isn't." He whispered, almost as if he was afraid that someone else would hear him being so sensitive. _

_ Quinn squirmed under the covers not knowing if she should bring up her next question. It had been on her mind a lot though so she thought it was necessary. "When school starts back up… are we going to tell people about us?"_

_ Puck played with a strand of her hair. "What about us? I thought you didn't want to be an us?"_

_ Just as Puck didn't play into Quinn's games, she didn't play into his. They were straight with each other and neither wanted to put up with unnecessary crap. "Be serious. Are we together when it comes back or not?"_

_ He kissed her forehead once again, but this time left a trail of kisses down to her neck. "I'm not going anywhere."_

_ She smiled. This was honestly not what she had thought things were going to be like at all. She never thought about actually having a serious relationship with Puck. She thought it was impossible. She never thought that after what had happened that she could be so happy. It didn't seem right to have things be so was between her and Puck, but alas it felt natural and it made her happy. _

_ The bliss couldn't last forever however. Neither of them knew that their relationship was in trouble. The drama crept up on them and before they knew it they were through without a clue of what had happened._

_ It all started that night when Puck was driving Quinn home from dinner at The Olive Garden. They were talking about mindless chatter until Quinn brought up something that she had been thinking about for the past week._

_ "Do you think if we're together when school starts that people will still consider me the disappointing unwed pregnant teen? Do you think it would be like a daily visual reminder?"_

_ Quinn had finally gotten back to the weight she once was pre-pregnancy. She had gone to the Cheerio's tryout and impressed Coach Sylvester enough to let her back on the squad. She had even told Quinn that she would be head Cheerio again if she could keep the weight off and swear up and done that she would never ever become pregnant again while being a Cheerio. It seemed to her like popularity wasn't such a laughable goal anymore, but she knew that if people couldn't forget about the pregnancy that it would be harder to come by._

_ Puck shrugged his shoulders. "What do you care what those assholes think?"_

_ Quinn frowned. "You like being popular too Puck. This isn't me being unreasonable. I'm just worried that us being together is going to make us social zeros."_

_ Puck drove to the side of the road and parked. It was a dark night and not many people were out on the road. He turned to face Quinn and she could see that his face held many emotions. It was part disappointment, part confusion, and part anger._

_ "So what, you want to break up or something?"_

_ She quickly shook her head. He didn't understand where she was coming from. God bless Puck but he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed. "Puck no! I love you and I want to continue… whatever this is but do we have to tell people? Why do they really have to know? It's none of their business and them knowing could only do us harm."_

_ Puck shook his head and she saw him clench one of his hands into a fist, something he did when he was frustrated, "So we have to pretend like we're not together? I have to watch other guys flirt with you? I have to hear you yelling at me when I flirt with girls even if it's just keeping up a cover… for the most part. It doesn't make any sense. You're being a moron Quinn."_

_ She swatted him, "Don't call me that! I've worked hard to try and become popular again Puck! I don't want it to all go away just because they're reminded of our little indiscretion last year."_

_ "Bull. Shit," Puck spat out, "We spend all this time together and now we have to go in the freaking witness protection program because you think it's going to hurt your rep?"_

_ Quinn knew that this situation was getting out of control. Puck was yelling at her and he never raised his voice to her. She raised her hands and said that it was best not to discuss it anymore and to forget she even said anything. She still wasn't sure whether they should tell people or not, but she knew that she wanted to be with him in any situation and that might not even happen if she continued badgering with the subject. Puck started to drive again but she knew that he was going over the conversation in his head, and she knew it wasn't insane to be confused over the situation. She had brought it up sort of randomly. _

_ They were close to her house (and still not talking) when Puck asked, "What are we going to tell Shelby?"_

_ Quinn was stunned that he had brought it up. She thought she had made it clear her feelings on the matter and the fact that bringing such matters up only resulted in her feeling like crap and crying for hours. You see, the matter was that the adoption agreements had not been finalized. Shelby had given Puck and Quinn the option of having either a closed adoption or an open adoption. She knew how hard it was to give up a child so she wanted to be as understanding as possible. She had even told the pair that she would be willing to be very open in the open adoption. The could see her once a month if they wanted and attend holidays. Or they could see her once or twice a year. Or they could simply receive pictures. Or they could never hear from her again. Shelby had been adamant that they make the decision. Her only request was that they decide before summer was over and that they come to a conclusion together so that there wouldn't be any lingering drama. It was a sore subject for Quinn who only had to have Beth's name brought up to start crying. She had known from the start though that Puck wanted to see their daughter as much as possible._

_ "I've told you before," She replied while trying to keep her composure, "We'll ask her to e-mail us pictures. That's it."_

_ Puck shook his head and slammed his hand on the horn, honking out his frustrations. He cursed. "Why are you the only one that gets to make decisions about it? She's my daughter too!"_

_ Quinn was startled at how angry Puck was becoming. She shifted in her seat. "Puck… it'll be too hard to see her. I only have to think about giving her up to have my mascara run in five seconds flat. If we saw her every month, with the woman we gave her up to… we'd be messed up."_

_ "No," He yelled, "No that's just your fucked up way of saying that it's too hard for you and you don't even want to try! She's our daughter and if we can see her every month then I want to see her every month! Dammit, don't you love her Quinn?"_

_ That's what made Quinn start bawling. She loved Beth with every fibre of her being. She had been through so much in her pregnancy. She gave up her perfect life for a baby that she could have gotten rid of early on. She hadn't though because she loved her so much. She had known soon on that she would give her up for adoption because she loved her more than she loved herself. She wanted her daughter to have the best life possible. It felt like a slap in the face to have her love doubted for her after all she had been through. The tears ran down her cheeks._

_ "Of course I love her you asshole! _

_ "Then why don't you want to see her?" She was surprised that he could still focus on the road with all of the yelling Puck was doing._

_ Quinn trying to keep her tears in check as she screamed, "Because it'll hurt! Can you please just listen to me? Our lives are getting back to normal! Why would you want to be depressed all of the time? She's not ours!"_

_ "I love her." He whispered. Quinn thought that he was crying or at least had tears welling up in his eyes but she didn't dare ask him. Instead she whispered, "Me too. A lot. Maybe we could visit her on her birthday but I don't think we should see her anymore than once or twice a year. It''ll kill us."_

_ Puck shook his head. "You're being a bitch."_

_ Quinn was shocked. He had never called her that name before. She wanted to slap him, but she knew that it would be a stupid idea as he was driving so she refrained. she simply cried harder and asked how he could say something like that._

_ "You started this all Quinn, don't make me the freaking bad guy! You said that we should pretend that we're not together like you're ashamed of me! How was I supposed to feel after that? Flattered? Then you act like a bitch saying we can't see our own daughter even though you know how much I want to! I've gone with every thing you've said but you could at least agree to this one thing for me! You're a selfish, heartless bitch!"_

_ "Tell me how you really feel." Quinn muttered sarcastically as the tears poured down faster and harder. She could see the end coming. It was a matter of minutes at this point. There was no coming back from this._

_ Puck pulled into the Fabray driveway and parked the car. He turned to face Quinn and tried not to let the tears running down her face distract him. "Make your fucking decision," He told her, "Either you let me see my daughter or you can walk out of that car and never come back. I'll never want to speak to you again!"_

_ Quinn didn't know what to say. She had thought she had known all along what the right thing to do was, but now she wasn't sure if it was till the right thing to do for the sake of her relationship which was the only thing making her happy at the moment. She took a deep breath and knew what she had to say. "It's for the best. I'm not being selfish Puck. This is what's best for both of us. Seeing her would hurt too much and just be a distraction."_

_ "That's a crap answer! You spend all of this time with me this summer and did you know from the start that you were just going to try and make me agree to keep us a secret when school starts? Did you know that you weren't even going to discuss this with me like I wasn't the father of the kid? This is such bull shit Quinn! You're being an asshole!"_

_ Quinn couldn't take the abuse anymore. She couldn't stand that Puck wouldn't even listen to the reasoning behind her decision. She really did not want to see Beth because she knew how much it would hurt her and Puck. Every time they had to leave her would just be worse. She could stand once a year but she knew that Puck wanted more and he wasn't satisfied with anything. All he was doing was now making her cry as he yelled at her and called her horrible names. She couldn't take it. She wasn't strong enough to have the person she loved hurting her like this._

_ "We're through." She said as she walked out of the car and slammed the door shut._

_ "You're fucking right we're through!" He yelled as he slammed his hand on the car's horn again and sped off into the night. _

_ Quinn ran up to her room, bypassing Mrs. fabray and collapsed on her bed. She sobbed and felt a huge hole in her body. He was gone. He had broke her heart. They weren't together and it killed her. She hadn't seen it coming but there she was, lying face-first in her bed as she cried her eyes out. it felt as bad as the times she cried when she remembered the pain of giving Beth up. Only this time she didn't have anyone to call over to hold her. She was alone. He had left her alone._

At school on Monday morning it didn't take long for Mercedes to find her. Kurt was with her. Quinn smiled at the two and said hello. Kurt smiled but Mercedes didn't react at all.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked.

Mercedes looked at Kurt, waiting for him to say something it appeared. When it was evident he wasn't going to she sighed and said, "We've been hearing what's been going on between you and Rachel. She told me what you said to her at the party. Why are you acting like this Quinn? This isn't you?"

Quinn tried to laugh the situation off. "Guys, come on. We all know how irritating Rachel can get. I mean, it's Rachel Berry. She signs her name with gold stars and wears sweaters with animals on them."

Kurt pinched his forehead. "Believe us, we both know just how annoying Rachel's personality and complete lack of anything that could be mistaken for fashion sense is but we just think that likening her appearance to a tranny is a bit… harsh."

Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, and yelling at her when she's trying to smooth things over is immature Quinn. I thought you changed. Last year you became so sweet and compassionate. Where is that girl?"

Kurt eyed Quinn up and down. "She's under a polyester uniform but she's still there. I can see it."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "You guys are insane. I'm the same as I've always been. I've never liked Rachel. Even when I was pregnant I was still mean to her. If this is something else, like you guys are afraid that since I'm basically the Queen Bee again that I'll ditch you... well you're just going to have to get over it because it's not true."

Mercedes looked at Kurt like a child had just told them that unicorns were hiding under her bed. "Quinn, cut the crap. It's not just Rachel. You've yelled at freshman to get out of your way, you make snide comments to other girls in our class, and you're spending more and more time with your new boyfriend rather than hanging out with your real friends."

Quinn didn't want to hear anymore. It was obvious that Mercedes didn't understand what the situation was. Kurt at least seemed a bit more understanding. Mercedes was loud and liked to give her opinion even if it wasn't asked though so Quinn expected it. She didn't want to get into a cat fight in the hall even though she wanted to tell Mercedes how ridiculous she was so she just said that she would take their advice and try to tone her attitude down and walked away, thankful that they didn't follow her.

The rest of the day Quinn went on as if nothing happened. She chalked everything up to the fact that Mercedes was jealous that her friend was rising up the ranks of popularity again as she stayed at the bottom. She still made backhanded compliments to girls in the washroom (I.E Those blackheads make such a cute pattern sweetheart! Or I'm so jealous of you. I could never be so confident to walk out of the house with pores as big as yours!) and gave people she didn't care for dirty looks. She didn't see Rachel so she couldn't get her fix in there. She gossiped with the Cheerio's and sat with Mike, Matt, and two of her fellow Cheerleaders, Amy and Gina. At the end of lunch she met up with Kurt and Mercedes to have a quick chat with them about how thankful she was for their talk earlier and suggested hanging out on the weekend and possibly going to the mall. They were both in and oblivious to the face that their friend had not taken their advice.

Tuesday and Wednesday were the same schedule. Quinn went to her classes, split her time at lunch split between Mike, the jocks and Cheerio's, and Kurt and Mercedes, and made sure that her homework and Cheerio choreography were up to date. Quinn knew that the Glee Club assignment was also on her plate but she honestly thought that it was a menial task that she could put together Thursday night. A few of the girls on the Cheerio's even asked Quinn's permission to have a huge slumber party for the whole squad. Finally the days were back when Quinn was the decision maker and had enough power to intimidate even the most popular girls. Quinn of course said that they could have it, but they had to say that it was her idea. She had to be the ringleader since she was head cheerleader and all.

Wednesday after school, as Quinn was waiting for Mike at her locker (football practice had been cancelled because Coach Tanaka claimed to have his first date in months and he had to prepare for it) so she could drive him to her house and they could hang out. She was applying lip gloss as she looked at her reflection in the mirror when Santana stormed up to her and slammed her locker shut. She crossed her arms, raised her eyebrows, and met Quinn with a smug smile.

"What is wrong with you Santana? I thought you were PMSing last week."

"Oh shut up you little blonde phoney," Santana sneered, "Last year I was top dog and then after summer you think a little weight loss is going to make things go back to the way it once was? Learn your place. You screwed up and have to accept that you'll always be second best from now on."

Quinn immediately knew that she had to go on the defensive. She stood with one leg in front of her body and one hand on her hip. "I know you may not like it sweetie but you'll have to get used to it. I'm Head Bitch In Charge again. If you want to become my lapdog again… well we can talk."

"Oh shut up and stop embarrassing yourself with that pathetic smack talk. You went too soft by being pregnant… with the guy that was totally mine so you're so lucky I was nice enough not to beat your flabby ass down. And also stay clear of me and Matt. Mind your own business and don't get involved."

Quinn laughed in Santana's face. She couldn't believe how clueless the girl was that her little crush was not into her in the slightest. Quinn wanted nothing more to lunge at the girl for all of her catty comments but she knew foam years of experience that verbal abuse was the most painful dish any girl could serve up. She couldn't stop smiling as she told Santana, "Matt is the one _begging_ me and Mike to save him from you. Get a clue Santana, you're the only one who's been looking pathetic here!"

Santana was red in the face but quickly walked off by simply muttering a "Whatever". Quinn smirked. It was painfully obvious that she had won that battle, but one thing was clear. She had some competition to be top dog now. Santana wasn't going to go down without a fight. That would make things very interesting and very complicated. However Quinn believed that by being Cheerleading Captain she already had an edge on her former best friend forever.

Quinn drove Mike to her house and they went up to her bedroom as soon as they entered the house. Mrs. Fabray was out running errands of some sort. She had called Quinn as she was driving home from school telling her that she should be home in an hour.

Quinn's mom had made it clear to Quinn that she wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of her daughter having a new boyfriend so soon after having a daughter of her own, but she was willing to give Mike a chance. She thought that he seemed nice enough and cute enough, and he did seem to make Quinn happy so Mrs. Fabray wasn't going to push her opinion too far. Quinn assured her mother that she wasn't going to get hurt by Mike and all he was doing was making her happy and helping her to become more popular.

Mike hopped on to Quinn's laptop and went onto Youtube to show Quinn a few songs he was considering singing for Glee Club. He wanted her top help him make his decision.

"Mike I'm no good with this. I haven't even picked out my own song yet! I wouldn't be a help at all."

Mike laughed off her comment. "I don't need you to tell me which song suits my voice better or anything. It's not that kind of assignment. I'm not even going to do something about my life like mr. Schue wants us to do. I just want to dance so tell me which song you like best."

Quinn plopped down on the pillows on her bed and laid down so she was looking at the ceiling. "I thought you were just going to do a song where you could show off a lot of your dance moves?"

"I was, I am. Quinn, stop being difficult and just help me pick a song!"

Quinn laughed and relented. "Fine, but after that I don't want to hear another word about Glee Club!"

Mike played Quinn thirty-second clips of three songs. Each had fast beats and Quinn could totally see Mike singing a bit of each song before busting out into a jam-packed dance routine. She actually thought about which song she liked the best and gave him her honest opinion that the second song he played was the one she preferred. Mike smiled and told her to expect to hear it on Friday.

He then went over to her bed and laid on the right side as Quinn laid on the left. He was laying on his side while she laid on her back. He looked at her, brushed a hair out of her face and asked, "Do you want to make out?"

Quinn shook her head and then turned her head to look at him. "Can we talk for a minute? I didn't have the best day."

Mike nodded. "What happened?"

Quinn closed her eyes. She didn't want Mike to see all of her insecurities. Those were things she tried to hide away from everyone. She was supposed to be seen as a confident bombshell. Popular cheerleaders didn't have parts of themselves that they were unsure of. That's what Quinn had been telling herself. She was forcing herself to feel guilty for not being self-confident in every aspect of her personality and it was killing herself. She couldn't put that type of pressure on herself, but then again she couldn't show people a softer, vulnerable side. Those types of people got walked right over. She couldn't be one of those girls.

"Santana told me today that she's still going to be the most popular girl in school and anything I try to do won't change anything. She's such a bitch Mike! That girl was all frizzy hair and oily skin when we became friends in grade six. She'd be a complete geek right now if it weren't for me but all she wants to do is make sure I stay some loser like I was last year."

Mike rolled his eyes like he was listening to nonsense. "Quinn don't be stupid. You _are _popular. The bitch is just jealous and trying to scare you."

Quinn opened her eyes and turned to her side to face Mike. Her eyes brightened up and she smiled as she considered the possibility. "Do you really think so?"

Mike nodded. "All I ever hear about is girls making catty comments about you or saying how much they want to be like you. Both must mean you're popular. And all of the guys keep going on about how hot you are and how they want to tap that. I got to say, it's a hard job to beat every single one of them to a bloody pulp."

Quinn laughed. "You're sweet."

She prayed that Mike was right and Santana was just jealous and felt threatened by her rise to popularity so quickly. It was plausible and not completely far-fetched. This was Santana after all — she was the girl who still got jealous over girls that a guy she hadn't even dated was seeing. She was possessive quickly and maybe she became attached to the feeling of being top dog and wasn't willing to let it go, without a fight at least. Quinn didn't care. She would get in a full-fledged cat fight with Santana if it ensured her place at the top.

Mike smiled at Quinn. "So _now_ can we make out?"

Quinn bit her lip acting as if she was seriously weight his proposal. She then giggled, nodded and leaned in to kiss her boyfriend. Things remained light, Mike seemed to know by now that Quinn didn't like to get too hot and heavy on weekdays. He had started taking things slower, which for some reason had just made Quinn want him more. She had to say that he posed a great distraction for herself. Before Mike had come along she had spent her time trying to forget about Puck which seemed like an impossible feat. However, Mike was helping her to forget about Puck and remind her that there were people out there that could care about her. Mike made her happy. It wasn't the crazy love story she had with Puck, but Mike was a nice guy who helped her gain popularity, and it also didn't hurt that he was a good kisser. He was all that she wanted - and could probably handle at the moment.

They parted and Quinn turned back to lay on her back. "How long are you staying here today?" She asked.

Mike shrugged. "I don't have the car… my dad will probably pick me up on his way home from work so probably like five-ish."

Quinn nodded. "So can I ask you something?"

Quinn had wanted to ask Mike something serious for a few days. She didn't know if it was way too soon to ask him this question, but she honestly was too curious not to know. She didn't think he would mind too much. However, they had only been dating for 6 days. Not even a week. It scared Quinn when she wondered if she was jumping into things too fast with Mike, but she assured herself that she was taking things in a good pace and that nothing felt weird when they were together. In any case she wanted to make sure that they had time to talk about what she wanted to ask. It was a serious question and could launch into more serious things. She didn't want to start something only to have Mike needing to leave ten minutes later.

Mike turned so he too was laying on his back and told Quinn, "Shoot."

Quinn bit her lip and closed her eyes. "How many girls have you slept with?"

Quinn needed to know because she knew that Mike wasn't a virgin but she needed to know exactly how many girls he had been with. She wasn't a fan of man whores. They caused too much pain and she knew from firsthand experience that they were too hard to trust.

Mike sighed. "Uhmm… well only Brittany and Mai… and that April chick Mr. Schue recruited to be in Glee Club for a bit last year."

Quinn nodded her head and evaluated his response in her head. Brittany, considering her reputation, was a given. Mai and Mike had dated on and off for around a year so it didn't surprise her too much. April Rhodes had repulsed her though. She was a crazy old drunk of a woman and Quinn had known that Puck had also slept with her.

"Are you mad at me now?" He asked, turning to face her and try to read her facial expression. There wasn't much to read however. Quinn had an excellent poker face.

She shook her head. "I expected Brittany and Mai. It's just that April girl that disgusts me. I hated her. I remember she was always hanging off of Finn, like she was trying to seduce him or something. It was like having a second Rachel."

Mike shrugged. "She was hot though, and had a smoking body. She said she wanted us football guys to feel more relaxed to have her in the Glee club. It didn't mean anything though, it was just fun."

Quinn turned on her side and put her arm around Mike's waist. "You don't have to explain yourself. I was just wondering."

He turned around to face Quinn and kissed her on the forehead. He then looked at her, almost as if he wanted to say something. "What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing," Mike laughed off, "Well… I mean… Puck, was-"

"He was the only one." Quinn finished for him. She had known it was inevitable after asking him about his sexual past that he would ask her about her own. It wasn't like everyone didn't already know, being pregnant had that effect. The problem was that talking about it reminded Quinn of the summer, which was something she was constantly fighting to forget, or at the very least not think about.

After that Mike and Quinn retreated downstairs to watch a rerun of So You Think You Can Dance. Mike would even stop to imitate some of the moves. Quinn was amazed what a good dancer he was, even though he seemed embarrassed by such compliments. He ended up leaving at 5:10, around 20 minutes after Mrs. Fabray returned home. When he left Quinn's mother called her in for dinner.

Meals were mostly silent at the Fabray household now. At first both mother and daughter made idle chit chat, but the truth was that both didn't know what to say to the other. After asking how each other's day was there wasn't much else to talk about. They were different people than they were before and it seemed awkward to talk about the other's personal life. Quinn wanted to ask about her parent's divorce but she thought it would be too uncomfortable. Similarly, Mrs. Fabray wanted to ask Quinn about Beth and Puck but she knew that her daughter would just start bawling and run up to her room without saying a word. It was easier to not talk. However, on that night Quinn decided that maybe she could ask her mother a personal question. She wouldn't make it as serious as asking how divorce proceedings were going though, she would just test out the waters.

"Do you think you'll get a job anytime soon mom?"

Mrs. Fabray took a bite of her chicken and then tilted her head up, almost as if she was just considering the possibility of employment. "I'm not sure. I'll probably be getting a lot of money from the divorce but I technically should still get a job. I don't know where I would work though."

Quinn was at first surprised how open her mother was being and how she wasn't telling her not to worry about it. She was discussing the subject with Quinn like they were equals, not like she was a five year old kid. "You used to be a great dance teacher. you're the one that taught me ballet. Couldn't you do that again?"

Mrs. Fabray took a sip of whine and smiled at Quinn. "Honey I wish it was that easy but that kind of job isn't easy to come by. I'd be surprised if even one dance studio was looking for a teacher at the moment - especially a forty-five year old one."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Then just open up your own studio. It's not like you won't have the money, after you're done with dad and everything. You're a really good teacher mom, and a good dancer. Wouldn't it make you happy?"

Mrs. Fabray nodded. "I'll think about it Quinnie," Her expression then turned serious, "Mike… he's making you happy right Quinn?"

The teenager nodded. "He is."

Dinner ended soon after and Quinn went to her room to finish the simple worksheet she had for homework. As she was finishing up, her cell phone started ringing. Quinn looked at the Caller I.D. and saw that it was Mercedes. She smiled and answered it.

"Mercedes! Hey, what's going on?"

"Not so much. Kurt and I were just texting and we were wondering if we're still going to hit up the mall on Saturday?"

Quinn was reminded of the plans she had made with her two friends recently. She had to admit that although she was perfectly happy with Mike and always had a great time with him, she was missing Kurt and Mercedes a bunch. They weren't invite to parties so she didn't get to see them. she was spending more time at lunch with Mike and the jocks and cheerleaders than them, so other than Glee Club she had to specifically make plans in order to see them. Well, she saw Kurt at Cheerio's practices as well but as Head Cheerio she didn't have much time for socializing during practices. She wished that Mercedes could just join the Cheerio's again so they could hang out the three of them all the time without any of the other Cheerio's judging them. She knew that Mercedes didn't like the pressure it put on her though and the other girls who were in it.

"Of course we're still on! It's going to be really fun! I was thinking that we could all meet up at the entrance at like three o' clock?"

"Sounds good to me," Mercedes replied, "And I also wanted you to know that I'm fine with you and Mike dating. Not that you needed my permission, but I just wanted to tell you. He's nice and what you need. If only I could find someone… not many boys are exactly knocking on my door for dates."

Quinn sighed. Mercedes was always so confident which made it difficult for Quinn to know how to handle the situation when she wasn't. She tried her best though. "Mercedes, soon you're going to find a guy who likes you so much. Don't make yourself feel bad because you're single. Enjoy it, and when you find the right guy everything will fall into place."

There was silence on the other line until Quinn heard Mercedes laughing. "What is it?" She asked her friend.

Mercedes let out another chuckle. "I think it's time we go back to me being the one to give you advice. The other way around is just too weird for me."

The girls laughed and got off of the phone after discussing how neither had put any thought into their Glee performance yet. Things would be easy for Mercedes since her voice was so powerful and amazing that it could overshadow a mediocre song. Quinn's voice wasn't as strong though. She needed to choose the perfect song. After getting off of the phone she finally decided to start thinking up songs. She ran through the list of songs on her iPod but none of them reflected her at all. It seemed hard especially because Quinn didn't even know who she was anymore. She was spending so much time blocking parts of herself off that she wasn't sure about the identity of the true Quinn Fabray.

Quinn had also made sure to invite Kurt and Mercedes to sleep over after they finished shopping at the mall. They hadn't hung out in so long that Quinn felt a good ol fashioned slumber party was what they needed in order to reconnect. They could gossip about the other members of the Glee Club, swap fashion, hair, or skincare advice, and maybe even talk about boys. Quinn wasn't certain, but she thought that Kurt was acting very flirty whenever he talked to one of the football players named Sam. Quinn had no idea what was going on with Mercedes's love life though. She definitely would need to figure that out.

Thursday at school was the same deal as always. Quinn tired to cultivate her popularity this day however by humiliating Rachel in front of a group of Cheerio's. She sought her out when she was separated from Finn. Quinn, Santana, Britney, Gina, and Amy found Rachel in the parking lot coincidentally as they were coming from eating lunch out. Rachel was holding a hot tea, most likely another thing to protect her ever important voice. Quinn couldn't believe how seriously the girl took herself. As the girls piled out of the Quinn's car Quinn smirked at Rachel.

"Oh Rachel you look so great! Have you lost weight?"

Quinn knew that backhanded compliments were the worst insults to be given out. She had perfected them throughout her many years of being a mean girl, and though she didn't like using them on Rachel (she preferred being straight-up rude to the freak), she knew that it was probably better to do so in case she ran off and told Finn. Quinn didn't want Finn any more mad at her then he already was, even though she suspected he wasn't as mad as he once had been. In any case, to protect Finn from getting hurt by her again, she simply gave his girlfriend insults disguised as compliments.

Rachel looked confused at Quinn's comment. "Are you calling me fat… because just so you know my doctor actually wants me to gain five pounds. I understand that it would be best for health issues but he doesn't understand the pressures put on young stars such as myself."

Quinn rolled her eyes. How did the girl make _everything_ about her talent or her rise to stardom? It seemed impossible to be able to accomplish but Rachel was living testament to making the impossible possible. For example, she was annoying, shrill, and at the bottom of the social heap, but she had somehow managed to snag one of the most popular girls in school who was actually being faithful to her.

"No, it's a compliment Rachel. You totally look like Tom Hanks at the end of Castaway!"

The Cheerio's behind Quinn snickered and they could see tears welling up in Rachel's eyes. She quickly walked away from the girls, trying not to walk too fast because she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of making her run away. Quinn got a round of high fives after she had made her way into the school. Quinn smiled. She was now back to terrorizing girls. She wasn't completely okay with it, but she knew it was in her own best interest if she wanted to become popular, and it wasn't like she was doing it to innocent girls. This was Rachel. The girl who had tried to steal Finn when they were dating and planning a family together. The girl who was bossy, stuck-up and arrogant. She deserved to be brought back down to earth once in a while.

After school Quinn waited at her locker for Mike. She had Cheerio's practice but Mike usually walked her out to practices. It got the couple recognition and people thought it was sweet. Quinn knew Mike was doing it for the sole purpose of being a good boyfriend though which she thought was cute. She really wished that she could be madly in love with him. He was a sweet guy, cute, funny, and so easy to be with. He didn't cause any drama. Quinn couldn't control her heart. Though she wanted to be in love with Mike, she knew she could never be that serious with him. She was attracted to him, and she did have feelings for him, but they were nothing like the feelings she used to have for a certain mohawked fellow. Quinn tried to tell herself that she had to give the relationship time. It was only a week and maybe one day she would wake up and find herself crazy about Mike. In any case she would stay with him. He was an asset to her reputation and she did like him. She did.

Quinn waited a full eight minutes at her locker until she started to get fiercely annoyed. Where was Mike? She checked her cell phone but there were no text messages from him explaining his absence. She started to get very frustrated. She had just complimented him in her mind about what a good boyfriend he was and now he was letting her down big time. She decided to go to his locker to see if anything was holding him up. She walked all the way to the other side of the school not to finned him there. Quinn wanted to scream out in frustration. She then saw Matt walking her way with Finn. He had to know where his best friend was.

"Matt do you know where the hell Mike is?" Quinn asked him as she walked up to the pair.

Matt shook his head. "I thought he would be with you."

Quinn sighed. She didn't mind that he wasn't waling her to practice. She wasn't so clingy that she needed Mike everywhere with her. However, she would appreciate if he informed her when he was not going to walk her so she wouldn't have to stand around alone pathetically or trail all over the school looking for him as she appeared like an idiot. She was about to walk away but Finn stopped her by saying something that caught her interest.

"He's in my class last period. He skipped today."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Why would he do that?"

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "He said he was bored. Uh Quinn… do you think i could talk to you for a minute alone?"

Quinn nodded and walked off to an empty classroom with Finn. She didn't know exactly why he needed to talk with her, but she would bet money that Rachel had been telling him that Quinn had been torturing her, or some other exaggeration. "What's up Finn?" She asked.

He shifted around looking uncomfortable to be having the conversation. "Listen I know you and Rachel aren't friends or anything… you've always been mean to her and she was jealous when we were dating and then you got mad cause she was basically all over me when we were dating but… do you think you could ease up on her? She's been trying to be more laid-back this year but all you keep doing is insulting her."

Quinn wanted to lay into Finn and tell him it was no business of his and he should get his girlfriend to defend herself but she knew that she couldn't. She had history with Finn… history that made it impossible for her to ever be mean or rude to him. She simply nodded and told him that she would try her best. She was about to walk away and forget about the whole conversation but then she remembered something she had been wondering about for a while.

"I'm not trying to be rude for the record but… what do you see in her Finn? She's more annoying than any of the small dogs the Cheerio's have, and she thinks she's so much better than everyone."

Finn shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I see it more as she knows what she wants. We have a lot in common. We get each other. She… she puts up a wall so no one can hurt her but she brings it down for me. We're real together."

"Okay I have to leave before I vomit from the grossness of this conversation." Quinn quickly walked off in the direction of the gymnasium. She knew she was going to be late for Cheerio practice but she had been swept up with the Where's Waldo situation. She quickly texted Mike saying: _You have to text before you skip class and leave me looking like a loner loser… unless this relationship isn't important to you. _She then turned off her phone so she wouldn't be able to be distracted if he texted back suddenly. She had to let Mike sweat this one out but she knew she'd be too tempted to look at the text and reply if she knew he sent a text message. So she turned her phone off and put it into her gym locker.

Cheerio's practice was the worst. Coach Sylvester yelled at Quinn in front of the whole squad for being fifteen minutes late. Quinn was humiliated that she had been yelled at in front of all the girls she was supposed to be impressing and threatening. It would take major damage control to make them see her as the badass she knew she was. The worst part was that Santana - who had high fived her for making fun of Rachel earlier - had snickered when Quinn was being reprimanded.

Quinn walked down the halls after Cheerio's practice realizing that her day had been absolutely awful. Finn had not only grossed her out, but made her promise not to be as mean to Rachel, Mike proved to her that he wasn't the perfect boyfriend that he once appeared to be, and Sue had embarrassed her in front of all the girls who she desperately needed to fear her in order for her popularity to rise. Quinn felt like crap and just wanted to go home, put on sweats, and watch TV in bed. She was supposed to be popular now, but she felt exactly like the loser she had been when she was with child last year.

To top it all off Quinn still needed to think of a song for her Glee assignment. She personally didn't want to go in front of the whole club and sing about her life. She was a much more private person than some of the other members and she didn't feel like expressing her true feelings in front of people. If she had to pick a song to describe her it would have to tell about her confusion about herself because she didn't know herself who she was. She was a nice person but she did mean things for selfish reasons. She went to Church each Sunday, but she had sinned multiple times over. Quinn couldn't think of a song to display her walking contradiction of a persona. She figured that she would ultimately just pick some fluffy song about how much her life rocked so that the other members of Glee Club would think she was perfectly happy with her life and everything in it.

Quinn had to pass the auditorium in order to get to the front doors that led tot he parking lot. As she did she saw that the door was open and heard a noise coming from within. It sounded like a guitar being strummed, and Quinn being the curious person she was needed to know what was happening. She slowly and carefully tip-toed in so that whoever was inside would not notice her. She sat herself down i the back row and looked at the stage. She saw one boy on stage, looking sad as he strummed his guitar. She noticed instantly (and not just form the mohawk) that it was Puck. Quinn contemplated leaving, she assumed that he was practicing for his Glee assignment and if she was being honest with herself, Quinn didn't know if she necessarily wanted to know what Puck was feeling in his life at the moment. She figured it would be a song about being a badass and being able to hook up with whatever girl he saw fit. Still, Quinn was intrigued and decided to stay. Thanks to the good acoustics in the room she was able to hear perfectly from her high above seating. She carefully paid attention to the lyrics when he started singing.

_We both lie silently still in the dead of the night_

_ Though we both lie close together_

_ We feel miles apart inside_

Quinn recognized the song but she couldn't remember which song it was. She assumed she had heard it from the radio once upon a time. She waited for the self-gloating part of the song to come out.

_Was it something I said or something I did_

_ Did my words not come out right_

_ Though I tried not to hurt you_

_ Though I tried_

_ But I guess that's why they say_

Quinn now knew the song and she knew that Puck had to be thinking of her. She thought that he had moved on. Everything he had done up to this point had suggested that he was completely done with her. She listened on.

_ Every rose has it's thorn_

_ Just like every night has it's dawn_

_ Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song_

_ Every rose has it's thorn_

_ Yeah it does_

Quinn's mind was now a ball of confusion. Did this mean he wanted her back? Was he simply singing a song and she was reading way too far into it? She studied his face and thought that he looked sad, or disappointed.

_ I listen to our favourite song_

_ Playing on the radio_

_ Hear the DJ say love's a game of easy come and_

_ Easy go_

_ But I wonder does he know_

_ Has he ever felt like this_

_ And I know that you'd be here right now_

_ If I could have let you know somehow _

As Puck sang the chorus again Quinn caught herself by surprise when she let a tear fall down her face. Why was she crying? She was with Mike. Her mind instantly started calculating things. Mike was the guy who had stood her up today without even texting her. Puck was the guy who was singing his heart out right now without knowing she was listening on. Quinn told herself to snap out of it. Mike had made a mistake but he would apologize and things would be better. She couldn't let herself think about Puck again. It would cause her heartbreak as it always did between the two of them. Still, she couldn't bring herself to tear away from the performance and walk away. She was set on listening to the whole song.

_Though it's been a while now_

_ I can still feel so much pain_

_ Like a knife that cuts you the wound heals_

_ But the scar, that scar remains_

"Stop crying," Quinn whispered to herself even though only a few tears were falling down her face. She was known as being an Ice Queen. Ice Queens didn't cry. It was physically impossible. She slid down a couple of rows so she could be closer to the stage without having Puck see her. It was lucky she did because at this part of the song the guitar and his voice became quieter.

_I know I could have saved a love that night_

_ If I'd known what to say_

_ Instead of makin' love_

_ We both made our separate ways_

_ And now I hear you found somebody knew_

_ And that I never meant that much to you_

_ To hear that tears me up inside_

_ And to see you cuts me like a knife_

Puck ended the song without finishing the last chorus and Quinn knew that she must have looked like a mess. As much as she had tried to fight it she couldn't help letting tears fall. Puck had meant so much to her. She had tried to save her heart by now putting a label on them in the summer but it didn't matter. Label or not they had been boyfriend and girlfriend in the summer and ending things hurt more than she could have ever expected. She missed Puck so much. She realized that being with him wouldn't allow her to be popular. Seeing the two together would remind everyone that she had been pregnant with his baby last year and a social leper. Still, Quinn wasn't sure if it would be too bad. she would still have Kurt and Mercedes and most importantly he would have Puck. But it wouldn't work she had to remind herself. He was a heartbreaker. He didn't know how to be in a relationship. He was too much of a risk. She needed security at this point in her life. Still, he deserved to have forgiveness and Quinn was focused on giving him just that.

Quinn walked down the aisles of the seats and cleared her throat to get Puck's attention. He had still been sitting on a stool in the middle of the stage, collecting his thoughts. He turned his head to see Quinn and then immediately became nervous. He looked down to his feet.

"Don't go places you're not invited." He muttered to her before standing up and starting to walk away. His back strategically to her so she couldn't see the pain on his face.

"Don't kidnap girls into dark bedrooms at parties." She retorted back.

It worked. Puck stopped walking away and stood still. After a moment he turned around to face Quinn, and tried to make his face as nonchalant as possible. "What do you want from me?"

She ignored his question in order to first make small talk. "The song was really good. Is it for the Glee Club assignment? I assumed it was. You sound really good on it Puck."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't do sappy power ballads. I'm a badass, we don't sing cheesy songs."

She wanted to remind him that he had done just that inly moments ago but stopped herself. She didn't want to cause a fight or an argument. So she simply asked, "Did you mean anything that you were singing?"

He stared at her in her eyes. He looked confused. "You're with Mike."

Quinn nodded. _Protect your heart_ she kept repeating in her head. "But I want you to know that I forgive you."

He furrowed his brows at her. "What are you talking about?"

Quinn didn't want to discuss the break up. She didn't know why he was being so difficult. "Don't be like that. I just mean that there are no more hard feelings for they way things ended. I forgive you for it."

It looked like Puck was smirking at her declaration. She didn't understand but as soon as she knew it he was walking away with his guitar. Quinn didn't say anything more or press the subject. Instead she simply walked off in the other direction to drive home.

When Quinn entered her house she turned on her cell phone for the first time since she had turned it off. She had one missed call. She checked and it was from Mike. She felt glad that he had at least made some sort of effort to fix the problem, but it was still only one phone call. Back in the day Quinn could have had Finn calling her twelve times before she answered when he had messed up. Maybe she had lost her touch? Or maybe Mike simply wasn't the kind of guy she thought he was. Her mind told her to stop second guessing herself and phone Mike to see where his head was at. She had to be rational. So Quinn ran up to her room and quickly dialled his number and pressed the call button. It rang once… twice… three times, he picked up.

"Hey Quinn." He sounded like he had been expecting her call.

"Mike… why did you skip without texting me?" She tried to be calm at first. Yelling at first wasn't the best way to solve problems.

"I didn't think I needed your permission."

When had he become so assertive? Quinn laid on the floor, leaning against her bed and put one of her hands on her head. "You don't, but you always wait for me to walk me to practice. I thought you'd let me know before I had to wait around that you had already left."

"Quinn," Mike sighed, "We've been dating for a week."

"I'm aware _Michael_." She made sure to use his full name, which he hated. It was only fair as she hated to be patronized.

"So I've only walked you to practice a couple of times. I didn't know it was some tradition. And I also thought you'd get the message after about a couple of minutes. I didn't think you'd wait around forever."

Mike was acting like a complete asshole. Quinn didn't know what had come over him. In any case, she could be play that game as well. "All it would have taken was one text message MIke. You don't think I'm worth a stupid text?"

Quinn heard a deep sigh on the other line. "I didn't even think about you waiting Quinn! I didn't do any of this on purpose."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "So you didn't even think of me. How sweet. You know, i was just thinking how great of a boyfriend you were and then _this_ happened!"

"What happened Quinn? You're making a huge deal out of nothing, and it's bullshit. I don't know what's going on with you right now but this isn't anything to get mad at."

Quinn took a deep breath and thought things over. Okay so maybe she was being a tad ridiculous but what was she supposed to do now? Apologize? That wasn't her style, but she knew that it was the right thing to do. She knew she was on edge after hearing Puck sing about her and how he wished he hadn't screwed up but it wasn't like she could inform Mike of that matter. She instead tried to make things die down.

"Okay… maybe I'm overreacting a tad but… can you just promise that you'll send me a text message next time you skip when we usually hang out? I don't think it's too much to ask."

Mike laughed. "I can do that. So, are we cool now?"

Quinn nodded but then realized she was on the phone so he wasn't able to see her. She chuckled at her stupidity. "Yeah, we're cool. Anyways, where did you even skip to?"

"Me and Sam went to see a movie. It was a horror film, but it wasn't even that scary. I won't skip again if you're going to get pissed off."

Quinn rolled her eyes. She wanted her embarrassing overreaction to be dropped. "Shut up. You can skip if you want, just text me if you do."

"So… this was our first fight."

"Yeah," Quinn replied, "And after only a week of dating. Aren't we still supposed to be in our honeymoon period?"

Mike laughed. "Hey well I don't predict too many more fights along the way. I'm a really easygoing guy so we just have to make sure you don't spaz out too often." It was clear from his voice that Mike was teasing.

Quinn smiled. "I still need to think of a song for Glee Club."

"You know we're performing them tomorrow… right?"

Quinn told him she was aware and they ended their phone call so Quinn could actual pick a song and practice. Mike suggested going through all of the songs on her iPod. She had already checked some of the songs before to no ail but she was willing to give it another shot. After putting it on shuffle, and getting to song number 234, Quinn found the perfect song for her to sing. It wasn't too personal, yet it described her well, and it still managed to be just enough of a badass song for her.

Friday after school arrived fast. All the kids in Glee Club were early for rehearsal per request by Mr. Schuester. Mike had shown up to Quinn's locker with puppy dog eyes saying that he would never dare dream of making her wait at her locker if he wasn't planning on showing. They walked to Glee Club hand in hand and sat down in the chairs beside Kurt and Mercedes.

"Are you excited that everyone actually gets to sing today," Mercedes asked, "I actually get to sing more than one big wail!"

Quinn chuckled at her friend's comment. She hen complimented Kurt's fierce red leather jacket and said, "What song did you guys pick?"

Mercedes put one finger to her mouth. "Sorry girl but it's a secret. Don't worry you'll love it when you hear it."

Kurt smiled at Quinn like he was trying to hold it in, but then he giggled. "Well we all know I'm not the best at keeping secrets so I'll give you a clue. Two words. Lady Gaga."

"Very cool." Quinn approved. Mike made a face as he wasn't the biggest fan of Lady Gaga, but he was open to it back when the girls and Kurt had performed Bad Romance last year. He was much better about the situation compared to Finn, Puck, and even Artie, who openly mocked the idea of singing songs by a girl who couldn't even remember to put on pants half of the time.

At that moment Rachel came bursting in the door with Finn trailing behind her. She had one of her huge grins plastered on her face.

"Fellow Glee Clubbers," She announced, "I cannot wait to hear your renditions of the songs you have chosen but I am sure you have all just been dig to hear what I have prepared. I'll give everyone a clue. It's from one of my favourite musicals of all time!"

There was no response. The Glee Club members simply looked at Rachel as if she were an alien.

Rachel smiled and continued to look around at the other members of the club. She was clearly waiting for someone to take a guess. When it was clear no one was going to say anything she cried, "Oh alright I'll tell you! It's from Rent! But I haven't performed this song in front of anyone! I didn't even practice in front of Finn! I'm sure it will be just as good as any one of my other performances."

Mr. Schuester then walked in and told Rachel to take a seat almost as it were first instinct. He stood up in front of everyone and sighed. "Auditions didn't go as well as I had expected." He admitted.

Santana rolled her eyes. "I told you Mr. Schue. You can't argue with science."

Britney looked at her friend. "I thought we were in Glee Club?" She said slowly.

Santana told her to shush and then crossed her arms. "So how many people actually showed up? One?"

Mr. Schuester smiled. "It was a better showing than that. On Monday we are going to be welcoming _three _new members to the Glee club!"

Rachel interjected, "I hope you're not just letting _anyone_ in Mr. Schuester as we really need to win Regionals this year. Are there voices up to par?"

"They all have excellent voices. However, we're now going to have an odd number of boys and girls. two boys auditioned but only one girl."

Artie sighed. "So am I just going to be pushed in the corner so you don't need to worry about uneven choreography?"

Tina shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair at all. Right sir?"

Mr. Schuester nodded. "We'll figure something out Artie but don't worry, we're not pushing anybody out."

Kurt's eyes seemed to brighten up. "Who actually tried out Mr. Schuester? Simply out of curiosity I'm asking."

"The girl is an exchange student from the Philippines. Her name is Leizel and she has an amazing voice."

Rachel instantly became worried. "Better than mine?" She interrupted.

Mr. Schue ignored her question. "One of the boys is named Dwayne and the other is named Sam. Most of you should know him, he's on the football team."

Quinn looked at Kurt and saw that he was smiling from ear to ear when it was announced that Sam had joined. She knew she had to be right. Kurt had to be crushing hard on the football player. It would definitely be a topic brought up at the sleepover.

Things moved along into the performances of the songs. When asked for a volunteer to sing first, Rachel immediately jumped out of her seat and walked to where mr. Schue was sitting. She dedicated the song to her new relationship and started singing 'I Should Tell You' from the Rent Soundtrack. Quinn tried not to listen but had to admit that Rachel was making her voice very soft and pretty for the song. The song was a simple love song so Quinn assumed that Finn was taking up a lot of time in Rachel's life.

Next up was Mercedes. She sang 'Listen' from Dreamgirls and brought the house down. Her strong voice fit the song originally sang by Beyonce perfectly. Quinn knew that Mercedes was standing up for herself and saying that she didn't want to put up with being left around to only sing big notes in songs when her voice deserved solos. She even seemed to be threatening Mr. Schuester when she san©, "_I don't know where I belong. But I'll be moving on. If you don't, if you won't Listen" _ After she was done she assured the group that she wasn't leaving, but she didn't want to be taken advantage of anymore.

Artie (who sang Use Somebody by Kings of Leon as he played guitar), Tina (she brought out her inner rockstar on No Doubt's I'm Just a Girl), Kurt (who ended up singing Paparazzi by Lady Gaga), and Finn (I want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner - ugh it grossed Quinn out completely) sang next.

The last six made up of Quinn, Mike, Matt, Santana, Britney, and Puck were left to sing but none were ready to stand up and volunteer. Mr. Schuester had to take the situation into his own hands and pick their order. Mike was up first and sang Cooler than Me by Mike Posner. It was all an excuse to show off his dancing which he did well as he defied the laws of gravity. Mike seemed to take a page from Mike's book and sang Billionaire by Travis McCoy. Santana sang Simply the Best by Tina Turner as yet another way to proclaim how awesome she was. Britney sang Umbrella by Rihanna and dedicated it to Santana. At the end there was only Quinn and Puck left to perform. Quinn hid her head hoping that Mr. Schue would save her and pick Puck. Her prayers worked and Puck got out his guitar to perform.

The cranks in Quinn's brain started turning. She knew what song he was singing and it was obvious who he was singing about. Everyone in glee club would know as soon as he started singing. It was going to be more awkward that listening to Finn and Rachel having a lovey dovey conversation. The worst thing was that Mike was right beside her! What if he got mad at the whole situation? What if he thought that he had competition with Puck and that Quinn was going to run into his arms? Her heart was racing and she didn't know what to do.

Puck started playing guitar but instead of the soft, acoustic melody she had heard in the auditorium, he was playing an electric familiar melody that didn't sound anything like Poison's Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Quinn was confused. This wasn't the song that he had performed. She recognized it, but didn't know what it was. She listened to him singing with the rest of the Glee Club who were pumped up for the rock performance.

_Out here in the fields_

_ I fight for my meals_

_ I get my back into my living_

Quinn frowned. What the hell was Puck doing? He was supposed to be serenading her and apologizing for all of his wrongs. Not that she wanted him to or anything, it would be totally embarrassing, but she had forgiven him previously under the impression that he would be singing the song in front of everyone.

_I don't need to fight_

_ To prove I'm right_

Quinn noticed that Puck turned his head to stare directly at her as he sang the next part. He raised his eyebrows at her, stared into her eyes and sang:

_I don't need to be _

_ Forgiven_

_ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

Quinn wanted to cry. Puck was the ultimate jerk! He knew what he was doing and how terrible he was being. Quinn wanted to walk up to him and slap him across the face. He was an asshole. She couldn't give in though. That's what he wanted her to do. Thus, Quinn sat in her seat and watched Noah Puckerman finish his version of The Who's Baba O'Riley. She might have had watery eyes, but she was not crying. She was not going to let him be the reason for her tears. He didn't deserve the satisfaction. When he was done the rest of the class erupted into applause calling him a badass rockstar. Quinn frowned and simply stood up to get ready for her song. She was hurt, but she was determined not to let anyone on to that fact.

She signalled for the band to start, they already had the sheet music as every student had to print off copies and hand them to each band member in the morning. She took a deep breath and realized that she would have much rather performed in the middle of the pack so people would have forgotten about her once all of the performances were over. She sighed, there was nothing she could do about it now. All she could do was try not to think about Puck's song change and focus on singing her song to the best of her ability.

_I hate the world today_

_ You're so good to me_

_ I know but I can't change_

_ Tried to tell you but you look at me_

_ like maybe I'm an angel underneath_

_ Innocent and sweet_

_ Yesterday I cried_

_ You must have been relieved to see the softer side_

_ I can understand how'd you be so confused_

_ I'm a little bit of everything_

_ All rolled into one_

Quinn smiled and winked at Mike as the guitar quickened its pace.

_I'm a bitch, I'm a lover_

_ I'm a child, I'm a mother_

_ I'm a sinner, I'm a saint_

_ I do not feel ashamed_

_ I'm your health, I'm your dream_

_ I'm nothing in between_

_ You know you wouldn't want it any other way_

Quinn hadn't been sure of singing the song at first since it had lyrics in the chorus that definitely would remind people that she had been pregnant and a social loser. However, these were the glee club members. They were the only ones that had stood by her and cared for her while she was with child. They had gone to the hospital with her when her water had broke (except Rachel, but Quinn hadn't minded so much - someone had to stay behind in case they weren't back in time), and they were the ones who still talked to her like she was a normal person. Ultimately she decided that it wasn't too risky to sing the song.

_So take me as I am_

_ This may mean you'll have to be a stronger man_

_ Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous_

_ And I'm going to extremes_

_ Tomorrow I will change_

_ And today won't mean a thing_

Quinn continued on singing the chorus and looked at Mike. She had been a little nervous that he wouldn't have taken to the song too well. He was enjoying it though, smiling as he watched her sing in front of everyone. His eyes were all on her and Quinn realized that she really lucked out. Mike wouldn't have chickened out of singing a song to her. He wasn't going to break her heart. Quinn took a quick glance at Puck and saw that he was watching her, but she could't read his expression. Was he mad? Intrigued? He was studying her and she wanted to tell him to look away but she focused on the song.

_Just when you think_

_ You've got me_

_ Figured out_

_ The season's already changing_

_ I think it's cool_

_ You do what you do_

_ And don't try to save me_

_ I'm a bitch, I'm a tease_

_ I'm a goddess on my knees_

_ When you hurt, when you suffer_

_ I'm your angel undercover_

_ i've been numbed, I'm revived_

_ Can't say I'm not alive_

_ You know I wouldn't want it any other way_

Quinn smiled as the music stopped playing. She thought she had done a pretty good job with the song. She knew that she hadn't been anywhere near sharp so Rachel wouldn't be able to make any comments about that this time. The club applauded her and Quinn sat down in her seat beside Mike unable to erase the grin from her face. "Good job," He whispered to her, "You kind of scared me… but it kind of turned me on. Is that wrong?"

Quinn playfully swatted him and looked at Mr. Schuester standing up where she had previously walked away form in the middle of the floor. He frowned at her and said, "Quinn, maybe next time you could choose a more language appropriate song."

She. by instant reaction, rolled her eyes. Quinn then put one hand on her hip and huffed, "Let me get this straight, Rachel is allowed to dance around the room while telling one of our fellow members that she wants to give him hell just by seeing her face, but I can't simply say that at times I can be a bitch?"

Mercedes smiled at her rebuttal and gave her a thumbs up. Mr. Schue looked at her as if he wanted to retort back, but then smiled and shrugged. "Well in that case… good job Quinn. Good job everyone. I'm really proud of all of you! You all are ready to start actual numbers I can see. We'll start next rehearsal, after we make the new members feel welcome of course. They're really excited and I'm sure you're all going to love them."

The Glee Club started to get their things in order so they could leave. Mercedes and Kurt complimented Quinn on her performance and Mike on his crazy dance moves. They gave the best friends similar compliments. After he had finished telling Kurt that his costume was really cool he kissed Quinn on the cheek and told her he had to run since his grandmother was over and his mom wanted him home as soon as possible. Quinn gave him a kiss on the lips and said goodbye. Once he had left she told Kurt and Mercedes she would meet them at the mall tomorrow and then afterwards they would crash at her house.

Quinn then walked out of the rehearsal room. She saw that Puck was leaning against the outside of the door, she tried not to think about if he was waiting for her or not. She ignored him and walked past the door. It did her no good though as he just started walking behind her.

"You know I don't know if I could've picked a better song for you. Well, at least a better song title." He snarked.

Quinn stopped and turned around, stopping Puck in his tracks and forced him to stand still. She pointed a finger out an doped him the chest. "It's better to be a bitch than an asshole at least."

Puck smiled his stupid smug grin that Quinn always waited to smack off his face. "I guess you're mad about my song. I told you, I'm a badass, not a corny wedding singer."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "You care more about your stupid reputation than you ever did about me."

Puck put his arm on Quinn's shoulder, looked at her with his smouldering eyes and told her, "I doubt that."

Quinn shrugged his arm off of her. "Stop it! You're an asshole you just wanted to be a jerk to me by singing that after i forgave you! You knew that wasn't easy for me! This is all just about your stupid reputation. If it wasn't you would have sang the first song."

Puck rolled his eyes. "I'm the one that cares about what people think of me? Weren't you the one that asked me if we could pretend that we weren't together for exactly that fucking reason?"

Quinn wasn't expecting all of this. She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to argue with Puck. That's why she ran away, similar to how she had once Puck had confronted her about being pregnant, to her car and broke into tears. Why did he have to be so mean? Why did he constantly want to mess with her? He had a chance with her but it had been clear that things would never work out. They were both stubborn, and selfish. They were different people with differing opinions. They wouldn't work. Mike was someone who she could actually have a future with however, and it seemed like Puck was trying to mess it all up. He confused her so much. One minute it seemed like he was sorry for everything, and the next second he was making it clear that he didn't need to be forgiven of anything in his mind. Quinn tried to stop crying. He wasn't worth it she kept telling herself but the tears kept falling.

"Fuck," She screamed, "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!"

She wiped away her tears and calmed herself down before driving back home. When she got home she ran up to her room and went to her room. She laid down on her bed and took out her cell phone. She texted Mike. _I adore you. _He quickly replied back with: _You're cute, and the same goes for me babe. _She smiled. This was how things were supposed to be. She belonged with Mike. Quinn promised to herself that form this point onwards she would forget all about Puck and focus solely on her relationship with Mike. He deserved it and so did she. Quinn promised that she would focus on Cheerio's, school, Glee, and her popularity. That was what she needed and she was done with unnecessary distractions.

Saturday came quickly and Quinn got into her car at 2:00 to drive down to the nearby mall to meet Kurt and Mercedes. Once she parked her car she got a text message from Mercedes to meet them in the food court. Quinn found them in front of a Dairy Queen and hugged them both.

'I'm so glad we're doing this," Quinn said, "I am in desperate need of some new clothes and I need people that are going to be honest if I ask if a dress makes me look fat."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "You say you need new clothes but all you wear to school is that Cheerio's uniform."

Quinn looked at Kurt to help her out. It was clear to both of them that Mercedes held some resentment to the Cheerio's after quitting. She was fine with her friends begin on it, but she always had a snarky comment about cheerleading when the subject was brought up. Luckily Kurt got the message. He awkwardly laughed and replied, "She has a life outside of school Mercedes. Quinn's not like Britney or Santana who probably _bathe _in the uniform."

Quinn laughed and nodded. She motioned to what she was wearing at the moment, that being a simple blue tank dress with a white cardigan over top. "As you can see, I definitely wear other things."

Mercedes sighed but then smiled. "Fine, I guess you're right. Let's find you something cute then. Maybe I can even get you into a fierce hat."

Quinn giggled. "I don't know if I'd go _that_ far. I'm not a hat person."

After four hours of shopping and trying on clothes the trio decided to head to Quinn's house. Quinn drove home in her car and Mercedes and Kurt drove in Kurt's. When they got to her house they piled all of the overnight things Kurt and Mercedes had brought into Quinn's room.

"This room screams Christian." Kurt remarked as he looked at the crucifix on the back of Quinn's door, the Bible perched on her dresser, and the picture of jesus hanging above her bed.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that a problem?"

Kurt put his overnight bag down and shook his head. "No… I just didn't think you were all crazy about the whole Jesus thing anymore."

Mercedes swatted Kurt and looked at Quinn. "Do you need me to take him to the curb?"

Quinn laughed. "No it's fine. I got pregnant, it's not like I joined a satanic motorcycle gang or anything. I'd like to think God and I are still cool."

Kurt nodded. "I'd like to think he's cool with me as well, even though I gravitate to Steve rather than Eve."

Quinn giggled. "The God I believe in accepts you. He accepts me and everyone who is a good person at heart. He doesn't punish people for making mistakes or loving who they love."

Mercedes gave Quinn a warm smile and wrapped her into a hug. Kurt joined in on the love fest as well. "See this is the girl I know," Mercedes told her, "Why do you have to be the mean ice queen with other people?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "You wouldn't understand Mercedes. I've been trained to act like it since I was young. It's the only way I know how to be popular."

Mercedes rolled her eyes but Kurt broke the tension fast. "At least you found some way to be popular! I've been following advice form magazines, TV shows, movies, you name it for years and nothing has worked for me! I get through it through it though by reminding myself that the popular crowd are neanderthals and I am significantly better than them in every way."

The rest of the night was filled with laughter, pizza, makeovers, fashion shows, and gossip. Quinn never felt better and realized that she was so lucky to have Kurt and Mercedes as friends. They were the only people she felt completely comfortable with. She could act like a total freak with them and know that there was no judging and they weren't going to gossip about her behind her back. They were true friends. Quinn also appreciated the fact that they had become friends when she was pregnant. They had seen her at her lowest and still wanted to be her friend.

At night when the three were in green facial masks to make their skin irresistibly smooth, Quinn decided that she was ready to dig a little into Kurt's love life.

"So Kurt… what's up with you and Sam?"

Kurt immediately stopped flipping through the pages of Vogue and slowly looked up at Quinn. Mercedes was like a ping pong ball, moving her gaze from Kurt and Quinn.

Quinn pretended to back out of the question. She raised her hands in mock defence and said, "Oh nothing! Nevermind, it just seemed like you two were close. You seemed to be real flirty with him but I guess it was nothing."

Mercedes looked at Kurt with a frown. "You have a crush on one of those football players and you never even told me?"

Kurt blushed and looked sheepishly at Mercedes. "I wanted to tell you but… I've never had a crush on a guy before, well there was Finn but he was unattainable seeing as he decided to slum it with girls, so this is the first guy I've crushed on who actually may be able to reciprocate."

Quinn was shocked. She sat up on her bed after previously laying on it to paint her toenails and slid in closer to Kurt. "Sam's gay - like officially?"

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. "He hasn't said it outright yet but… I am a gay guy myself and we have some form of previously installed gayer to help us out. I don't think he knows it yet though."

Quinn gave Kurt a reassuring smile. "Well I'm happy that you've moved on from Finn at least. Just keep hanging out with Sam, and do what you're doing because form my angle he doesn't seem to be minding it at all."

Kurt giggled like a little school girl at that comment and smiled. Quinn was proud of herself for helping out a friend like she was. She was a good person, she just happened to be mean at times.

"What about you Mercedes," Quinn asked, "Anyone you're crushing on?"

Kurt nudged his best friend. "I'm trying to get her to like Dwayne, the new guy who's joining Glee. I think it would be adorable if me and Sam were together and Mercedes and Dwayne. She's not into the idea though."

Mercedes nodded. "I don't want to go looking for some man just so that we can double date. If I have a boyfriend I want it to be someone I like, not someone who is convenient."

Quinn knew that this was the time to back up her friend. She nodded her head and replied, "Besides if any more couples form in Glee then people are going to start making jokes about inbreeding."

The trio of friends laughed and went back to their facials, pedicures, magazine flipping, and hair grooming. They spent the rest of the night gossiping and asking Quinn about her relationship with Mike. She would giggle and tell them that he was sweet and funny and unbelievable cute. The conversation quickly turned into how good of a kisser he was, and for that question Quinn only had positive things to say.

Life was good. Life was simply. Quinn was happy.

_A.N.:_

_I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! This took forever to finish and I really wanted to finish it sooner but things kept coming up! I hope the wait was well worth it! I tried to not only add Puck/Quinn moments but also Mike/Quinn moments as they grow as a couple so that fans of both pairings would be happy :)_

_ On Friday I'll be going to a resort for a week that doesn't have any internet connection! I'm thinking that I'll post a small chapter before Friday and then when I get back I can write like a madwoman to get out one long chapter. _

_ Thank you for everyone who reviewed this story or the original title it was under 'Ever Rose Has Its Thorn'. Also thank you for anyone who put the story on their alert or favourite list or put me as an author on either list! I appreciate it so much!_

_ This chapter was really fun to write and I hope that you all liked it! I tried to leave the title and band/singer of each song that was used somewhere in the story but if I forgot one and you want to know what the song was or who sang it don't hesitate to ask. :) If I do a short chapter next time (which 99.9% it will be) it'll focus on some Mike/Quinn drama that might be surrounding Puck/Quinn. That should be really fun to write about! And i say short but seeing how these are the regular chapter amounts short may even mean 7000 words. I'm not sure. It depends on how much time I have. :)_

_ Now writers work very hard on their stories so I would really appreciate for anyone who has the time to leave a review! It can be a word, a sentence, or even a long paragraph! I appreciate every review I receive! _

_ Thank you all! _


	3. I'll Cover You

Three months had passed. It was now December. Quinn and Mike had been dating for three months. They were now officially the It couple in William McKinley after a post on Jacob Ben Israel's blog confirmed it. Though they were in Glee Club, the fact that Quinn was head Cheerio and Mike was on the football team overruled things. Quinn had won the respect of all the Cheerio's and now they beckoned to her will. People parted in the hallways as she walked past and she was invited to _every _party. Mike was gaining popularity as well for dating the hottest girl in school, but the popularity increase didn't seem to matter as much to him as it did to Quinn. He was more focused into taking the relationship to the _next_ level as he was a hormonal teenager. They hadn't had any conversations about the matter yet, but Quinn had to readjust Mike's wandering hands on many occasions when they were in her or his bedroom.

She wasn't totally against the idea, she had discovered in the summer that sex wasn't something to be scared of. The only problem was that it would be with a new guy. Quinn didn't want to be a slut at all, and she didn't know what a right amount of boys to be having sex with was in high school. She had googled the question but there were so many differing opinions that Quinn realized it was a decision that she had to make for herself. She knew that she would be the fourth girl that Mike would have had sex with. She wasn't too pleased about that because she thought that it seemed like she wasn't important. Quinn realized that she couldn't change the past and that Mike will always have slept with Britney, Mai, and April but she just didn't want to be another name added to the list. She ultimately decided to put the thought out of her mind until it came up. There was no use in worrying about something that wasn't even coming up at the moment.

The three new additions to Glee Club had mixed results. Dwayne had been well liked at first. He seemed like an easygoing, laid-back guy who happened to like singing. His musical stylings were R&B and he sounded particularly good when paired with Mercedes. He seemed like a great addition to the Club, that was until he got a little _too_ comfortable with everyone. After about a month of being in the Club Dwayne started to get vey bossy and arrogant. He seemed to think that his voice was better than everyone else's and that he deserved every solo. Even though it was explained to him multiple times over that his voice simply wouldn't work on all the numbers and that other member's voices suited the number better he would still get into a huff. Quinn had overheard Dwayne and Mercedes complaining to each other about their lack of solos multiple times. Apart from constantly wanting to be the star of the club Dwayne also liked to take control of the numbers. He never insulted people like Rachel would, but he was always adding his suggestions in at every second. He had become a male diva, and Quinn was sure that Mercedes would have yelled at him for his attitude but strangely enough they had become close friends. Quinn suspected that Kurt's dreams of double-dating with Mercedes and Dwayne may in fact come true soon enough. They were obviously flirting and it was only a matter of time until their relationship was taken to the next level.

Sam was the most universally well-liked in the club. He was easy-going and admitted that he hadn't even thought of trying out at first. It was after encouragement from Kurt and Finn during football practices that he decided to. He said he knew that it might lower his reputation seeing as the Glee Club was at its lowest after their humiliating loss but he enjoyed singing and he was willing to risk it. Sam was a really good singer, and Quinn thought that Finn might be a little jealous because as time went on Sam was getting more and more solos and was seen as Finn's major competition. Sam didn't offend anyone or boss anyone around so the club accepted him. His relationship with Kurt hadn't gone as smooth. Kurt had told Quinn that they had hung out with one another a lot and it was clear that Sam didn't have any problem with Kurt being gay. Kurt was positive that Sam was very confused over his own sexuality though and wasn't ready to admit he was gay. Kurt wanted to hang out with Sam a lot so it might speed up the process. In late November he got the courage up to tell Sam that coming out was hard but it would make him feel a million times better to not have anything to hide anymore. Kurt had told Quinn and Mercedes during one of their hangouts that Sam hadn't taken well to his advice. Instead of thanking Kurt he proclaimed that he wasn't gay and stormed off. Kurt and Sam hadn't been speaking since. Quinn thought the whole situation was awful. After knowing that Kurt liked Sam she had made sure to pay attention tot hem and it was clear that Sam reciprocated feelings, but was not ready to admit it. She felt bad that he couldn't accept who he was and he was keeping both himself and Kurt from actually finding love.

The last member of the club was probably the most controversial. Her name was Leizel and though she was very tiny, she had a big mouth on her. She wasn't afraid of hurting anyone's feelings. She would insult someone's singing at the drop of a hat and refused to feel bad about giving her criticisms. Her saving grace was her voice. It surprised everyone to hear such a big voice to come out of such a little girl. Rachel definitely had competition with Leizel, something that Rachel resented more than anything. The foreign exchange student was also a Christian who had re-started the celibacy club. The way Quinn found out was one of the reasons she disliked Leizel so much.

Leizel had walked up to Quinn after her first time at Glee rehearsal and gave her a warm smile. "You're Quinn Fabray right?" She had asked.

Quinn had nodded. "Who wants to know?" She cooly said, protecting her Ice Queen reputation after accidentally smiling back at this new girl.

"You used to be president of the celibacy club, I just wanted to let you know that I've started it back up."

Quinn couldn't help but burst out laughing. The celibacy club had been a joke. No one had wanted to proclaim their virginity except for herself and all the other members were there either because Quinn had manipulated them into it, or because they wanted to get some action. She never thought that after it was disbanded someone would have the guts to start it back up again.

"Good luck. How many members do you have now," Quinn asked, "Or is it more of a one-person club?"

Leizel had the audacity to roll her eyes at the cheerleader. Quinn was shocked. "We may not have as many members as you had during your presidential run… but I've heard stories from last year and at least all of our members are actually celibate."

Quinn wanted to slap the bitch across her face but managed to somehow control her anger. Quinn also noticed that Puck was sitting right beside them, pretending not to listen but clearly was. She had told Leizel that her eyebrows didn't match and then walked away from the whole situation. She chose not to talk to Leizel anymore thinking that she was a holier than thou bitch but somehow managed to hear about her from Santana in the beginning of November.

They had been hanging out at Quinn's house making posters for the Cheerio's upcoming competition. The girls, although both obsessed with popularity and neither forgetting about their past, had become sort of friends. They were at least pretending to be friends in any case. As they sprinkled glitter over the poster Santana asked Quinn, "Have you heard the new story about that little bitchy Phillippian?

"Leizel? What about her?" Quinn couldn't help but be intrigued at the prospect of new gossip.

Santana smiled and her voice was filled with snobbery as she said, "Even though she's your predecessor for president of celibacy club she kind of hooked up with Puck on Friday."

Quinn was shocked. She didn't understand. Was Santana trying to make Quinn jealous or was she simply trying to give her the latest gossip so she wouldn't be out of the loop. "What do you mean by hooked up?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "Well not sex, apparently she was sticking to her guns about that. Puck just told me that she gave him a hand-job. He's been telling everyone actually. The whole school will know by the end of this week."

That was it. Quinn was positive that Santana was just trying to make her jealous. They might have been getting along recently but her friend always did like to have the upper hand and seeing Quinn hurt would give her just that. The only problem was that Quinn wasn't hurt. She had gotten over Puck. She hasn't spoken to him since he had sang Baba O'Riley during Glee Club. She had moved on with her life and with Mike. She was in a serious, committed relationship and had all of her friends and activities back. She didn't need to worry about him anymore and she hadn't. She ignored him during Glee Club, and anywhere else she saw him for that matter. He was just another guy to her. Puck was officially dead to her.

"That's not going to hurt me Santana, but nice try."

Santana scrunched her face as if she were confused. "I can be a world class bitch, but don't call me one when I'm actually doing the opposite. Puck told me that he heard Leizel make some stupid rude comment at you and made it out like she was so perfect. Anyways he said it was kind of funny when he first heard it but a week ago he got mad over her saying it so he decided to get back at her for it. He asked her out and when they got back to her place she was willing to do it. Now everyone will think she's a hypocrite and you have the perfect opportunity to call her out. I'm doing you a favour by telling you, now you can get your revenge."

Quinn had to smile. Santana was actually being nice, in a weird sort of way, but more strangely Puck had also been nice, in a twisted sort of way. Sure, he had seduced a girl into giving up her beliefs, but he had done it because she had been rude to Quinn. After thinking for so long that Puck was a terrible person she had to admit to herself that he wasn't as bad as she had made him out to be in her head. He defended the people that were important to him and she was thankful that she could now wipe the smug sir off of Leizel's face.

The day after Santana had told her about Leizel and Puck's hookup Quinn found the new Glee member after entering the bathroom. She was trying to wipe away tears from her eyes while looking through the mirror. She glanced at Quinn and rolled her eyes.

She wiped a tear from the corner of her left eye and muttered, "Go on and say whatever you've been itching to tell me."

Quinn nodded. "You're a hypocrite. Karma works magic. Your early shouldn't get on my bedside. I know it isn't sex but I wasn't aware that hand-jobs had been added to God's list of approved things to do with boys. Those were just a few things I had been considering."

Leizel blew her nose into the tissue. "I don't even know why I did it. He's the only boy who paid any attention to me since I've gotten here. I'm from another country so half of the people at this school don't even think I speak english and the other half thought I was a social zero. Being in Glee club _and _being president of the celibacy club doesn't do wonders to your reputation. I have four friends and no boys are calling me up for a date. He paid attention to me and it actually felt nice. I didn't think he would tell everyone."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Puck rarely kisses and doesn't tell. You wouldn't know that though. You'e new."

Leizel walked closer to Quinn and stood in front of her. "I've heard all sorts of stories form last year. He was the father of your baby right?"

Quinn nodded and Leizel did the same. "So did he just do this because I was a bitch to you that one time?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "That's what I'm hearing."

"So he loves you and everything he told me was just a way for you to get revenge."

Quinn immediately shook her head. "We kind of hate each other actually Leizel. You just were an idiot and a bitch and made an enemy out of the wrong person. I know it really sucks to have your good reputation shattered - believe me I know what you're going through, but you kind of brought it upon yourself. You acted like you were better than me and no one forced you to give anyone a hand-job. That was all you. So I understand how terrible this is, but as soon as I leave this washroom I'm going to have to be a bitch to you - for my reputation and all. If you want some advice I would say just ignore everyone and stick with the club. But don't mess with me again or you'll regret it."

Since then Leizel had been the ridicule of the school but after a week the comments and gossip died down. She had followed Quinn's advice and acted like no one knew about it. The girls still hated it each other. Quinn routinely made slut coughs at Leizel, but the incident with Puck wasn't being brought up directly too much anymore.

It was a Friday in December and Quinn and Mike were in his bedroom laying on his couch with their feet laying next to each other's head. They didn't hang out at his house very much. It wasn't that his family were poor and he was ashamed of it, or that he had crazy strict Asian parents who didn't allow him to have friends. The real problem was that Mike had a little sister who constantly would barge in on the two and interrupt their moments. Mike's family wasn't rich but they were well-off. They had one of the nicer houses in Lima and with two parents working and only two kids they always had enough money to spend on their kids.

So Quinn and Mike were laying on the couch with Mike throwing a ball up in the air repeatedly and catching it. They had become comfortable simply hanging out with each other at one of their houses on a Friday night. They still had official dates and also went to parties to 'keep up with appearances' as Quinn would say, but they could also just be with each other and be perfectly fine. The moment Quinn realized that was when she realized that she had actual feelings for Mike; feelings that he didn't expect to be having.

"What do you want for Christmas?" He asked her as he threw the ball up into the air.

Quinn shifted upwards. "I don't want you to spend a lot of money on me Mike. Just get me something simple."

Mike leaned upwards and smiled. "Babe come on. If you tell me you want a jet I'm not going to be buy you it. Just tell me the one thing you want more than anything. If it's within the price range I'll buy it, and if not I'll just get you… I don't know, a shirt or some sex coupons."

Quinn laughed and threw one of the throw pillows that she was laying on at Mike. She then laid back down. "Well… the thing I'd want more than anything is kind of strange. I want a record player. My grandfather had one and I would always listen to tit. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. When he passed away he left me all of the records but the player was broken. So I have all of the old records I used to listen to for hours but nothing to listen them on. They can be pricey though so don't buy me it if it's too much. It's just the thing on top of my list."

Mike nodded. "You're not going to ask me what I want?"

Quinn looked up to the ceiling. "I already know what you want Mike."

Mike sat up and then leaned over so he was leaning over Quinn's body. "You're mind is always in the gutter, isn't it? That's okay though. It would be a pretty nice gift."

She laughed. "I actually wasn't talking about that _Michael_. But nice to know you want that as well. You told me a few things you wanted a whole bunch of times. My listening skills come in handy."

The couple spent the rest of the night watching a movie which they didn't end up finishing as it was interrupted by an impromptu make-out session. Quinn came out just past midnight and found her mother on the couch watching a documentary on the Discovery Channel. Quinn walked over to her mother.

"What are you still doing up mom?" She asked.

The woman smiled at her daughter warmly. "I was waiting up for you Quinnie. I have exciting news!"

Quinn was confused. What news was so important that her mother couldn't wait until the morning? "What is it mom?"

Mrs. Fabray turned the television off and stood up to she could be on the same level as her daughter. "Well I finally decided to take your advice. As you know the divorce settlement was very kind on my favour and I've taken a chunk of that money to open up a dance academy. Some of the women I volunteer with have already expressed interest in putting their children in my class once I fix the studio all up. It should be open in about a month!"

Quinn shrieked and hugged her mother out of excitement. "Mom that's so great! I'm so happy for you!"

Quinn's mother had recently made the transition from Mrs. Fabray to Ms. Fabray. The divorce had been finalized in late October and the judged had been very kind to Ms. Fabray considering all of the cheating, lying, and throwing out of children that Mr. Fabray had done during their marriage. She had landed the house, the two best cars, and a huge chunk of money and spousal and child support. She also received full custody but Quinn had a feeling that was something that both her parents had agreed upon quickly. Until this moment Ms. Fabray had not gotten a job but was constantly volunteering, but Quinn was happy that her mother was following a dream of hers by opening up her own studio.

Quinn hadn't spoken to her father at all during the divorce proceedings. She wasn't strong enough to see him. He had left her when she was at her weakest and most vulnerable. She had needed him and he had abandoned her. She didn't have the strength or the willpower to be near him right now. She couldn't forgive him and she wasn't sure if she was ever going to be able to. She also wasn't sure if her father was ever going to be able to forgive her. In his mind she had ruined the family's reputation and had failed everyone even though he had been having an affair at the same exact time! It infuriated Quinn but she tried to not think about it much.

A week passed and Christmas was approaching. Quinn was busy buying presents for her friends, her mother, and her sister. Her sister wasn't coming home for Christmas. She somehow had taken Mr. Fabray's side in the divorce and was going to spend Christmas with him. She had ensured Quinn though that she was sending her a gift by parcel so Quinn felt obligated to do the same. Quinn had never felt close to her sister (Charlotte). There was an age gap between them and they weren't close while growing up. Charlotte moved out when Quinn was becoming a teenager and she didn't come home often. She preferred being on her own. She married young and was talking about starting a family with her husband soon. Charlotte was the perfect daughter. Quinn was living up to the expectations as well, even exceeding them, before she had become pregnant. Quinn and Charlotte hadn't talked much during Quinn's pregnancy. The older sister kept telling her that she wanted to help but always had some excuse. 'She lived too far away.' 'She was just getting started with a new job.' 'Their parents wouldn't listen to her anyways.'

Quinn liked to get her shopping done early. After two days of shopping she had everything perfectly picked out. All there was left to do was wrap them, but she always leaved that until a bit later.

The Glee club was having a Christmas concert. Rachel had originally said it was anti-Semitic considering that two of the members of the club were Jewish but Mr. Schuetser had to remind her that the majority of the school was Christian and that Christmas songs were more likely to receive an audience. Rachel, a self-proclaimed Tinkerbell, realized that a bigger audience was all she needed. In order to pick a wide variety of songs Mr. Schue decided to put half of the Glee club's names in a hat and get the other half to pick a name out. The pair would then have to decide on their favourite Christmas Carol. Those would then be the songs they would sing. There was an even number of members now as Leizel had gone home to visit her parents early for Christmas break. She was happy to go and Rachel was delighted as well. Leizel gone meant not having stiff competition for a solo.

Sam, Artie, Tina, Puck, Brittany, Finn, and Rachel's names were in the hat as they sitting on the left side of the rehearsal room. Mr. Schue then went to the other side of the class and passed around the hat where the slips of paper were placed in. Quinn, Mike, Matt, Santana, Dwayne, Mercedes, and Kurt each picked out a name. Quinn sneakily took a peek at her slip of paper. She saw Mike do the same. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw _Puck_ written on her slip.

She nudged Mike. "Switch partners with me. Please." She showed him who she was paired with and Mike nodded uncomfortably. However, he didn't take her her sheet of paper. He shook his head. "You guys have to get over your problems. Plus, it's only for a few minutes."

Quinn was shocked. Why wasn't Mike accepting her demand? He knew how uncomfortable it would be for her to even talk to Puck for seconds but he was making her partner up with him? It didn't make sense. Mr. Schue told the students who ha depicted out names to go meet up with their partner. Quinn noticed that Mike happily walked over to Britney. She felt like crap. She wondered if he didn't want to switch partners because he wanted to spend time with his ex. She couldn't help but feel jealousy inside.

Quinn sulked over to Puck who was still sitting in his chair with his arms crossed. He smirked when he saw Quinn stand in front of him. "Did you fix this or something?"

Quinn rolled her eyes at his arrogant comment. "Don't flatter yourself. Let's just pick a song and get this over with."

Puck shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on his chair. "I don't know any Christmas songs."

Quinn put one hand on her hip as she stood in front of him. "Don't be a liar. Everyone knows Christmas carols, even Jews."

Puck smiled at her and Quinn sat down in the seat next to her. She had spent months ignoring him and pretending he didn't exist to prove to others that she was over him. If she acted like a baby right now all the work would be done the toilet. She had to fake it. So she politely asked, "Do you like 'O Little Town of Bethlehem?'"

Puck laughed out loud. "Don't get stated on all that Jesus crap. If we have to pick a song then it;s going to be something actually good like… I don't know, 'Christmas All over Again' by Tom Petty."

"My dad liked Tom Petty," Quinn said without realizing that her lips were moving. She looked up at Puck expecting an awkward silence but he instantly provided another suggestion. "What about that 'Merry Christmas - I Don't want to fight Tonight' song? It's like if 'Jingle Bell Rock' was cool and it's by The Ramones. I'm pretty sure your dad doesn't listen to them."

Quinn smiled. "I don't know the song, but I don't want to do some lame kiddie song and the title sounds nice so… sure. Why not?"

"What's your boyfriend going to pick?" Puck asked nonchalantly.

Quinn giggled. "He's been singing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town - the Springsteen version - all week so he's probably convincing Britney to do that one."

Puck looked around the room and his eyes landed on Rachel. "If she picked that 'Do They Know It's Christmas Time' song to try and be deep or some shit I'm going to light something on fire. People don't want to be fucking depressed at a Christmas concert."

Quinn laughed and shook her head. "Five bucks she chooses Mariah's 'All I Want for Christmas is You' and makes it all about her little grossmance with Finn."

Puck stuck his hand out. "You're on." Quinn took his hand and shook it. Without expecting it she felt a spark as their hands touched. She studied Puck's face to see if he had felt it but he displayed no emotion to suggest such a thing. Quinn cursed herself. She couldn't feel these things anymore. She was with Mike and they were going good. She adored him and didn't want anything confusing getting in her way.

The Glee Club then went around the room with the pairs announcing their picks. Mercedes and Tina chose 'Sleigh Ride' which Quinn had to admit was a catchy song. Mike and Britney had in fact chosen 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'. Kurt and Artie had picked 'Little Drummer Boy'. Quinn and Puck announced their choice which Rachel had rolled her eyes and huffed at saying that Christmas songs were not about rocking the house down. Sam and Santana had chosen 'Feliz Navidad'. Dwayne and Finn decided on Queen's 'Thank God it's Christmas'. Finally it was time for Rachel and Matt's to announce which song they were going to sing. Rachel stood up making a long speech about how her voice would sound lovely on the majority of the song and she would love to even make up the choreograph for it as well. Mr. schuss finally interrupted her and told her to say which song they had picked. Rachel smiled and said, "All I Want for Christmas is You". She then noticeably winked at Finn.

Quinn looked over at Puck who was still sitting beside her. He sighed but then took a five dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to her. She smiled. She never understood why people ever doubted her.

Glee Club ended and Quinn walked back over to Mike and held his hand as they walked out to the parking lot. She had a fun time in Glee that she had forgotten all about being skeptical of Mike being excited about being paired with Britney.

The next day at school was a little peculiar. The beginning of the day went by normally for Quinn, but when she was at her locker during the break between third and fourth period she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around and saw that it was Puck. She was surprised. After months of not speaking and not so secretly disliking each other he was popping up in her life a lot.

"What's going on?" She asked him, still in shock.

Puck looked nervous and stammered at first. Eventually he found his footing. "I'm not fucking good with words or anything so I'm just going to ask you. Can… can we be friends?"

Quinn's mouth dropped open. The boy who had refused her apology and secretly humiliated her in front of the Glee Club wanted to be her friend? Her ex-boyfriend who had been furious with her for not wanting to see their daughter regularly was asking for friendship. It didn't make any sense. He was supposed to hate her. He was supposed to be an asshole and make it easy for her to dislike her. He wasn't supposed to understand her problems with her father or smooth over awkward situations. He wasn't supposed to be nice to her. He was supposed to play his role of the jack ass ex-boyfriend. It made things easier. If he was sweet and forgiving then it made things so much more complicated. She wanted to be friends but how was she supposed to know that Mike was going to be fine with it? She knew that she wouldn't fall for Puck again as he was happy with Mike but he still might feel a little weird with her being friends with the father of her child.

"Please don't make me say it again." Puck muttered bringing Quinn back to reality.

"Umm… I don't know Puck. It might be a bit weird. It's not always good to be friends with someone you have history with."

Puck rolled his eyes. "I'm not asking for you to make friendship bracelets with me Quinn or to build a fucking treehouse but I don't want to keep hating you and I don't want you to hate me."

Quinn looked Puck in the eyes and saw sincerity. He didn't seem to be joking around or trying to hurt her. He meant what he was saying. He wanted friendship. It was the season of forgiving and ti had been months since their big fight. If Puck was willing to make an effort to be cordial to her, than Quinn realized that she could at least give it a try.

"Well we can try it," She responded after a moment, "But friends look our for each other and are nice. They don't pull crap on the other."

Puck nodded his head, understanding the warning. "Friends… they can buy each other Christmas presents though right?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "You're Jewish."

Puck smirked. "And you're not."

Quinn sighed. She really wanted to have a talk with Mike and see if he was alright with this. She knew that she didn't need his permission on who to be friends with but she still wanted to ask his opinion on the matter. If Mike wanted to be friends with Mai she would like him to talk tot her before it. It was tricky to be friends with someone who you had previously been in a relationship with. However Puck had meant a lot to her at one time, and even though she had ignored him and tried to forget his existence he still meant a lot to her. She didn't want to start a relationship with him again but she wouldn't mind being friends.

"Fine, you can get me a present, but don't spend a lot of money on me Puck. Please."

"You really think you're something huh," He asked, "You're probably busy though on Christmas day with your family right?"

Quinn nodded. "You could come over on the 26th though. At around noon, that should be fine."

The rest of the days before Christmas break went by without much drama or excitement. The Glee Club practiced all of their songs for the concert. Surprisingly, every member got at least one solo throughout the whole concert which was a rare feat. Quinn had gotten to sing a solo on both Sleigh Ride and Merry Christmas - I don't Want to Fight Tonight. Rachel of course had more solos than anyone but that was to be expected. The concert actually ended up being pretty successful. Parents, teachers, and even a good number of students all showed up. Everyone in the club even seemed to be getting along. Even better news was that Mercedes and Dwayne were officially going out and Kurt and Sam seemed to be talking again.

Quinn knew that Mike noticed that she wasn't ignoring Puck anymore. She said hi to him when she saw him and had even had a conversation with him about the merits of Christmas in Glee Club. She thought it was a good holiday not only for the spiritual aspects but also because it taught people good values such as giving to others. Puck thought it was all a bunch of crap and it made people selfish and greedy. Even so, Quinn had not told Mike that she was friends with Puck again. She didn't want him to disapprove and she was afraid that he might. She thought that there was no harm in him not knowing. It wasn't like they even hung out, they were just being civil to one another. She definitely wasn't about to tell Mike that they were exchanging Christmas presents. Sometimes being oblivious was for the best.

One thing strange actually had happened. After the Christmas concert Finn had caught up to Quinn in the parking lot and asked to speak with her.

"Don't lead Puck on Quinn." He had said in a serious tone.

Quinn was clearly confused. She had no idea what Finn was talking about. "Finn I'm not following."

Finn sighed and put his hands in his pockets and shifted around uncomfortably. "He's been saving up at Sheets N Things to buy you something instead of continuing to pay off our debt and you have a boyfriend. Don't play him."

Quinn couldn't believe that Finn thought she was that type of girl. She may have been at one point but she thought that he had recognized ht exchange that had taken place within her. "Finn I told Puck not to spend a lot of money on me so don't say that I'm leading him on. We're friends and I've made that clear."

"To Mike as well?" Finn asked.

Quinn didn't want to deal with someone who never wanted to talk to her unless it was about someone else. He didn't seem to care about her so she wasn't going to stan there and be insulted. Instead she got into the passenger's seat of her mother's car.

The day before Christmas Mike came over to Quinn's house so they could exchange presents. Mike had made Quinn close her eyes as he carried her present up to her room. Once he had placed it down on her floor he allowed her to open her eyes. It was wrapped so she didn't understand why she had to walk up the stairs with her eyes closed and she playfully swatted her boyfriend for making her look like a fool without a purpose.

Quinn wanted Mike to open up the present she bought him first. The first present was wrapped up. He unwrapped it and saw that it was a massive case of his favourite energy drink. He laughed. "How did you know?"

Quinn giggled. "While it was kind of a hint when you gulped down three of them i ten minutes flat before the Glee Christmas Concert." She passed him the other present she had bought him. It was in an envelope that she had decorated herself. He opened it up to see two tickets to his favourite singer for the next month.

"Quinn you're the best!" He exclaimed as he wrapped her into a hug and gave her a big kiss. She smiled. "I knew you'd love it. Take Matt and have a great time."

Mike grinned at his girlfriend thinking she was the perfect girl he could have ever found. He motioned to the big present laying on the floor. "Open yours now." Quinn agreed quickly as she was never one to turn down a gift. She walked over to the gift and wondered where to start unwrapping. She finally decided to just go for it and attack the box. She unwrapped it everywhere and realized that it was just a huge box. She opened the box to find a slightly smaller box. She opened that box to find another slightly smaller box.

She glared at Mike. "I hate you."

He laughed. "That was the last one I promise."

Quinn smiled. "You better be telling the truth." She carefully opened up the next box and saw that he was in fact not lying. There was no slightly smaller box but instead the thing Quinn had wanted for years. Her perfect present was in the box. It was a brand new record player. Quinn couldn't erase the smile off of her face. She didn't know why she was being so emotional but she felt her eyes water. She put her arms around Mike and hugged him tightly.

"You are seriously the best boyfriend ever Mike!" She kissed him hard on the mouth and then picked the record player up so she could hold it. She was mesmerized as he studied it.

"I saw it at Urban Outfitters a few days after you told me you wanted one and I knew I had to give it to you. It's new and it can play all of your old records plus new ones. And if you ever want to get your DJ on it works as a turntable as well."

Quinn looked up at Mike and put the record player down. She stood up and walked two steps over to him. She put one hand around his neck and leaned in to kiss him. She led him with her other had to her bed and sat on it. He got the message and shifted the both of them further on the bed so Quinn was laying on the bed and he was using his arms to keep his weight off of Quinn as he laid on top of her. They continued kissing and things heated up. Quinn's hands were under Mike's shirt feeling his recently formed muscles in his back and Mike had his hand up the front of Quinn's dress. Quinn didn't know how she had gotten herself into this position. It wasn't like they hadn't ever made out heavily but she usually stopped things before such heavy petting started happening. However, she felt good and she knew that Mike was a nice guy. She also knew that her current morals and values didn't go against having sex (as she knew this where things were heading) with a committed boyfriend. Quinn was just being paranoid that she would soon become a slut who slept with dozens of guys. Still, at the moment things felt incredible and she didn't want them to stop. She was so thankful that her mother was out doing last minute Christmas shopping and wouldn't be back until dinner time.

Things escalated quickly and Mike was left in his boxers and Quinn only had on her bra and underwear. Mike had begun to leave a trail of kisses down her neck. He then put his arms around her back to undo her bra clasp. Quinn put her hand o his chest to stop him from going too fast.

"Mike…" She started.

"What," He asked, "This feels good, doesn't it?"

Quinn nodded. "It's not that Mike it's… I don't want to be one of those girls who sleep with a lot of guys in high school."

"I don't want you to one of those girls who sleep with a lot of guys in high school." He said, smiling and repeating her previous statement.

Quinn bit her lip. "What does that mean?" She needed clarification. She needed for Mike to say it out loud.

"I like you so much and for me I'm going to leave high school with a list of four and you're going to leave with a list of two."

Quinn smiled. "You mean it?"

Mike nodded and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "It's me and you babe. That's what I want. I promise."

Quinn nodded and grabbed Mike closer to her so he could leave kisses down her neck again. She then remembered something important. Though she was on the pill she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice under any circumstances. "Do you have protection?" She asked.

Mike picked up a condom he had taken out of his jeans before removing them and showed Quinn. She relaxed and gave into her hormones and what her body wanted.

Quinn didn't feel guilty afterwards or upset. She didn't regret her decision. She was glad that she had sex with Mike. She felt that they were ready and he had convinced her that he was in the relationship for the long haul. She wasn't worried that he was going leave her afterwards. He wasn't that type of guy. She felt a little guilty keeping the secret that Puck was visiting her the day after tomorrow after they had been so intimate and personal but she didn't want to ruin the moment. She definitely didn't want to get into a huge fight the moment after they had sex for the first time.

Mike left shortly after Ms. Fabray came home. He joked to Quinn that he wouldn't be able to look her mother in the eye for a while. Quinn told him not to worry and that her mom would probably be semi-cool with the whole matter - but they were definitely _not _going to mention it to her at all.

Quinn told her mother what Mike had given her for Christmas and Ms. Fabray told her daughter that she had snagged herself a good man. Quinn told her mother that she was already informed of that. Ms. Fabray asked her where she would want the record player to go. Quinn told her she'd like it in the basement as that's where she liked to listen to most of her music. The coolness and darkness of the downstairs somehow soothed Quinn. Ms. Fabray told her that she would move the record player downstairs soon.

Quinn loved Christmas day. Her mother had bought her all of the things she asked for but more importantly she loved how she actually felt like a family again with her mother. They weren't cold strangers to each other. They loved each other. Ms. Fabray's mother, father, sister and sister's family came over to join them for dinner and they exchanged presents with each other as well. Quinn loved having a family once again after being kicked out and switching homes almost as often as changing clothes. She had stability and love. She was so happy and at peace.

She woke up early the next day as Puck was coming over at noon. It hadn't taken her long to figure out what to get him. It was actually the easiest thing. It also fit her personality as she figured he wouldn't have wanted her to buy him anything particularly flashy. Her gift was from the heart. She was quite proud of herself actually.

She got ready and heard the doorbell ring at 12:14. Her mother was busy cleaning from yesterday's festivities. Quinn went to the door and answered it. She was wearing a simple white eyelet dress with a red cardigan over top. She saw Puck wearing a T-shirt with a hoodie over it and a pair of jeans. He was carrying an old box that wasn't wrapped. She assumed that he didn't have any wrapping paper at home or he though t he was too cool to be wrapping presents. She invited him in and into the living room. It seemed like a comfortable place where two friends could hang out.

"How's your break been?" She asked him, still not sure exactly how to act around him.

"It's been good," He replied, "I went to a few parties, did some paint-balling, and just hung out. How was your Christmas?"

"It was really nice. My mom's family came over for dinner and then we gave each other presents. I haven't seen any of them in such a long time… I wasn't here last Christmas so it's been over a year."

Puck nodded, understanding exactly why she hadn't been at her house for Christmas. He plopped himself down on the couch and Quinn sat o the couch opposite him. He put the box down on the floor in front of him.

Quinn leaned over to take a wrapped parcel form under the Christmas tree. Puck frowned. "I didn't want you to get me anything."

Quinn stuck her tongue out at him. "Too bad, I did. Even if you're a Jew I still felt like I should, so I did. Don't worry I didn't bust the piggy bank out for this one. I didn't even have to steal any wheelchair bus money." She winked at him and he laughed.

"Well I guess it's alright then. Do you want to open mine first?"

Quinn nodded as she was a sucker for presents. Ever since being a little kid and realizing she simply had to write a list down. send it to Santa and all she wanted she would get in a short amount of time she had become fascinated with Christmas and especially the gift aspect of it. She walked over and sat down in front of the box. She opened it up and picked the item out of it. It was a record player. It was smaller than the one Mike had given Quinn and this one looked like it had been used but Quinn loved it. She didn't know how he knew she would want one.

"It's… how did you know I wanted a record player Puck?"

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "You mentioned it once in the summer when we were in my car. Something about your grandfather and you had all the records you loved but nothing to play it on. So I saw this once and it's been used but I knew you'd want it. I saved up and bought it and fixed it up so it actually works now. It's actually not that bad."

Quinn couldn't stop smiling. She had such a warm feeling inside. She couldn't believe that Puck had remembered something she had probably quickly mentioned such a long time ago. After all they had been through he had managed to be such a nice guy. She knew she would never tell him that Mike had bought her a brand new one obviously. It would be cruel and she couldn't do that to him. She stood up and hugged Puck. She kissed his cheek.

"Thank you so much Puck. It's perfect. I love it."

Puck grinned. He was proud of himself. Quinn thought he looked adorable. She couldn't believe that he had goon to so much trouble just for her. She felt weirdly honoured. He kept smiling and Quinn passed her gift to him to Puck. "I hope you like mine as much."

He carefully unwrapped the gift wrap. Once it was unwrapped he was stunned at what it was. He stared at the collection of items, not knowing what to say. It was a whole bunch of photographs of Beth that Quinn had framed. There were pictures of her from the day that she was born Ms. Fabray had taken with her digital camera that Quinn had kept procrastinating to e-mail Puck until it was to late to the most recent pictures. Quinn had printed off pictures in all shapes and sizes and framed the best ones. The main one was a picture of Beth, Quinn, and Puck that Ms. Fabray had insisted on taking only an hour after she was born. Quinn was holding Beth on the hospital bed and puck was laying beside her with his arm around Quinn, smiling at Beth who was laughing. The recent pictures were ones that Shelby had recently e-mailed Quinn.

Puck looked through all the pictures but his face didn't move form it's stoic expression. "You don't like them?" Quinn asked, suddenly worried that it was too sappy of a gift.

Puck looked up at her and shook his head rapidly. "No - I love it Quinn. Thank you. I… I don't have any pictures of her."

Quinn nodded. "I know. I'm sorry I never got around to e-mailing you the ones we took at the hospital but I kept putting it off and then we broke up. And I haven't had the new pictures for very long. Just a few days actually. I told Shelby to send pictures in bulk. Like a bunch of pictures a couple of times a year because i though it'd hurt less. I was going to just forward you the e-mail but then you wanted to be friends and i got the pictures and i thought this would be a much better present, to frame them and print them out and stuff. Did you see the picture of her in the elf costume? She's adorable."

Puck looked at the picture Quinn mentioned and laughed. "She looks like you still."

Quinn shook her head. "She looks a lot like you too. Her little nose especially. She's the most beautiful baby ever."

"Well look who she has for parents. It wasn't a question she was going to be amazingly good-looking."

Quinn giggled and then felt Puck put his arms around her to give her a hug. He whispered thank you through her hair as he kissed the top of her head. It was a nice moment. They were getting along and being friendly. He had been sweet to her with his present and she had done the same. Quinn felt guilty that she had told Mike about the record player however. Puck was so proud of himself and he didn't know about Mike's high-tech turntable he had bought. Quinn didn't want to feel guilty though because she honestly loved Mike's gift but she also loved the thoughtfulness that came from Puck. It was a tricky situation.

"Do you want water or anything? Leftover turkey? We have a bunch of food from yesterday." She tried to distract herself from the situation. Puck nodded and they walked into the kitchen. Quinn went to the fridge to get the leftover dinner out when she heard Puck say, "What's that Quinn?"

Quinn turned around and saw what he was looking at. Puck was looking at the record player that Mike had given her. It was right beside the stairs leading down to the basement that were visible form the kitchen. Quinn's heart sank.

"Mom, why did you bring the gift down?" She yelled out cursing her mother. Why had she done it things would have gone smoothly if it had been left in her room. Her mother, from down in the basement said she was jet moving it for her like she had told her before. Quinn's eyes watered and knew she would have to face the music. She looked at Puck who was visibly hurt.

"Who bought you that?" He asked, trying to sound as if he didn't care.

Quinn tried to think of a lie that would make the situation less of a deal but nothing came to mind. If nothing would make the situation any better she decide that she might as well tell the truth and not get wrapped up into a lie. "Mike." She whispered almost hoping that Puck wouldn't hear.

He did. He nodded, swallowed his anger, and turned around to walk out of the house. Quinn ran to him and grabbed his arm to turn him around. "Puck, don't leave. Please! It was a much bigger gift from you! Mike didn't have to save up for it or work to fix it! He just bought it!"

Puck rolled his eyes. "No I got to enjoy all of that." He said sarcastically.

Quinn couldn't believe that he was making her feel bad about receiving a gift. It wasn't her fault at all. Still, a few tears were coming down her cheeks as she saw how hurt Puck was by the situation. "I had to tell him I wanted it Puck! You knew because you listened. It means a lot more coming from you."

Puck shook his head and shrugged Quinn's grasp off of him. "What am I doing," He asked himself, "I'm being a fucking pussy."

Quinn put her arm on his shoulder. "Puck stop it."

He shook her grasp off of him again. "No I'm so stupid. You have a boyfriend and I'm working away tying to fix some fucking record player when he's buying you a three hundred dollar one."

Quinn's mouth was open, her eyes were watery with tears already falling down them, and her body was shaking. Why did Puck bring out so many emotions in her? She wanted to hate him but he was sweet and she couldn't help but feel as if she had hurt him.

"I'm going to go Quinn. Thanks for the pictures but… maybe it was better when we weren't friends. I'm being a girl right now and it's retarded. You can take back my gift if you want. Sell it to a pawn shop or something."

Quinn shook her head. "I love your gift Puck, I do. Even if you don't think I do. And you can't leave, I still have another part of the gift to give you."

Puck kept walking. "Keep it. Whatever it is. I'm through with this. You're with Mike." He picked up all of the pictures that Quinn had given him and walked out of the door. She heard his car back out of the driveway. Quinn sunk to the floor and cried. Every time she let Puck back into her life he left. Each time he left it hurt more. She knew that she was going to have to have Mike come over. She needed comfort and a distraction to forget about everything. Her Christmas spirit had officially been ruined.

_ I hope you all liked this chapter! It's definitely become longer than I was expecting but it's alright. I hope you all enjoyed it!_

_ Thank you for everyone reading, reviewing, or setting this story or myself to their alerts/favourites! It means so much and I appreciate it a ton! :)_

_ This chapter has set up something pretty big that's going to happen in the next chapter. The downside is that as I said in the last chapter I'm going to a resort tomorrow for a week so there won't be another chapter until I come back. Once I come back I'll try to write like a madwoman so I can put up a long chapter shortly._

_ It would be very pleasant if I came home from vacation with some new reviews, and it would definitely motivate me to finish the next chapter faster so if you have the time I would appreciate any feedback or comment. One sentence, one word, one paragraph, anything would be appreciated and it would make my day! :) _

_ Until next time I hope everyone has a fantastic week and happy reading!_


	4. Hurting Each Other

He had asked for friendship. He knew from the beginning that she was in a relationship with Mike. It seemed like he was intent on making things difficult in her life. Quinn was mad that Puck had stormed off in a huff for something that hadn't mattered at all to her. However, she understood how it had been a big deal to him. Puck had thought he was doing something so great - which he had been - only to find out that her boyfriend had already done the same thing, but since his parents were more fortunate, he had bought her a more expensive version.

Still, he had asked for friendship and Quinn was determined to let Puck know that he couldn't enter agreements like that and then back out of them. It was December 29th and Quinn was driving over to Puck's house so she could tell him what the second part of the present was herself. It wasn't a present she could exactly return and it wouldn't work without Puck. She knew that he would want it but he was simply too stubborn. He hadn't called her or texted her so Quinn realized that she would have to make the first move. She parked on the street across from his family's house and got out of the car. Quinn walked to the front door and rang the doorbell.

Of course things couldn't be easy though as it wasn't Puck who answered the door but his mother. Quinn had gotten to know the woman when she had been living in her house and they weren't on the best of terms to say the least. Mrs. Puckerman thought that Quinn was a cheap tramp who had ruined her son's life while Quinn thought that she was a bitter judging old woman. The dirty looks, snide comments, and snide comments were not missed when Quinn had moved out of the Puckerman house and into Mercedes'.

Quinn tried her hardest to be nice however and smiled at the woman. "Hello Mrs. Puckerman, is Noah there?" She asked politely.

A frown and an eye roll was given back in return. "I thought you two were done and over with."

Quinn nodded. "We are, but we're still friends and I need to speak to him. It's important. May I?"

Quinn was determined to be polite even though thetas woman was being anything but. She had never done anything wrong to deserve this treatment but she had gotten used to it over the months of sharing a roof with Puck's mom. Quinn had always hoped that Puck would have said something to his mother about the way she was treating the mother of his child but he never wanted to get in the middle of anything. Quinn may have been carrying his child but his mom was cooking him meals and doing his laundry. He had felt it was best not to rock any boats.

Mrs. Puckerman sighed and closed the door. Quinn didn't know if she had just slammed the door in her face and dismissed her or if she was going to get her son. She counted to ten in her head. The door didn't open. She counted once again and still the door didn't open. She was about to turn around and go back other car when the door started opening. Her heart rose as she saw Puck on the other side. She smiled and calmed herself down.

"Hey." She whispered.

He nodded at her and leaned against the side of the door, not saying a word to her. He looked her in the eyes, with his eyes looking darker than usual. Quinn noticed just how cold it was, being winter in Ohio so she decided not to slow things down anymore.

"I know that you probably don't want to talk to me right now but I'm not going to let your stupid pride or mine ruin this. I have another present to give you and I don't care if you don't want it because I'm giving it to you."

Puck still wasn't saying anything. His arms were crossed and he was staring at Quinn, but he wasn't talking. Quinn sighed. She hated how stubborn and difficult he could be.

"It's not something like a CD or an X-Box though. It's something I have to tell you. If I tell you I need you to promise me that you won't argue or say it isn't enough. I need you to just accept it."

Quinn half-expected Puck to not say anything again and act like a complete toddler but she was pleasantly surprised when he nodded and said, "Fine. I promise." It wasn't much but at least he was talking and agreeing to her terms. It was a start, and at the moment it was enough for Quinn to be happy with.

"After she sent the pictures I called Shelby and talked to her. I told her before that I only wanted e-mails but after you wanted to be friends and… well I know you got Leizel to give you a hand job for me Puck, I decided that I had to do something for you."

Puck smirked at Quinn and leaned in to say, "I didn't need a reason to get a hand job from anyone Quinn."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyways, I called Shelby and even though I think that it's going to hurt so much - at least for me, I know that it means a lot to you so we've come to an agreement so that we can visit Beth each year on her birthday."

Quinn waited to see the look on Puck's face when the news sunk in. His expression was blank at first but then she saw a smile, a genuine smile creep up unto his face. His eyes brightened and they grew wider. Quinn smiled back, so happy at the expression on Puck's face and knowing that she had put it there. She waited for him to say something. She couldn't wait for him to get his excitement out into words.

"I didn't think we were ever going to see her again," He told her, his words coming out fast like a child who was overly excited, "I can't believe… thank you. Thanks Quinn."

"You're welcome." She laughed at the sheer joy the situation was bringing to her. She was so happy to have made Puck delighted, especially after she had seen the disappointment on his face only days earlier, that she was excited more than ever tot ell him that there was even more good news.

"Shelby is also moving in a few days. After New Years, and she was going to have her family help her move her stuff but I offered us to help. If you want to then we can move her stuff and see Beth then as well."

This time Puck didn't speak right away. He stared at Quinn in disbelief and with his jaw practically on the floor. He then moved closer towards her and wrapped her in a huge hug. He tightened his grip around her as he whispered in her hair, "You are seriously the awesomest person ever Quinn. Thank you so much."

Quinn wrapped her arms around Puck as well. She mumbled into his shoulder, "It's no problem at all. I'm excited as well."

After another minute Puck let go of Quinn and leaned back against the door frame. "What day is it?"

"January 3rd. She gave me the address for her old house and the new house. She wants us to meet her at the old one at noon. I was wondering if you wanted to drive there together."

Puck nodded. "Yeah that'd be nice. I could pick you up at eleven-thirty… or is that too soon?"

Quinn shook her head. "No her house is around a half hour away. It'll be really nice. But maybe wash your car before we go. I saw it in the driveway and I don't want our daughter thinking that you spread mud over your car for fun or anything."

Puck laughed. "She won't even be seven months old Quinn. I'm sure she won't notice how crappy my car is."

"But Shelby will." Quinn pointed out. She knew that the woman would never judge them or look down upon the pair as they had blessed her with the best gift anyone could ever have done, but Quinn still wanted to give off a good impression. She had originally wanted to take her car as it was much cleaner than Puck's, but she knew he liked to drive and she wasn't going to make waves once he had offered. She had enough tact to simply agree and get over the situation. Still, having a clean car wasn't much to ask from the boy.

Puck sighed but relented and agreed to go through the car wash the day before in order to get his car squeaky clean. His tone then turned serious. "Does Mike know about all of this?"

Quinn knew that the conversation was going to be brought up but she had honestly crossed her fingers that Puck would somehow have forgotten about her boyfriend of almost four months. She had prepared her answer ahead of time however so that there would be no awkwardness or stupid ramblings coming out of her mouth. "He doesn't know yet but it doesn't mean I'm not going to tell him. I just wasn't going to get into it if you were going to end up saying no anyways. Now that you want to do it I'll tell Mike." She was positive that it sounded fake and rehearsed but Puck somehow seemed to let it pass.

Puck looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows. "So things are good with Mike?"

Quinn smiled and nodded. "They are."

"How long has it been?"

Quinn pretended to be searching for the correct number of months throughout her head. After the appropriate amount of seconds she said, "Four months on January 10th."

Puck nodded. Quinn hoped he wouldn't ask any more questions. It was extremely awkward to talk about your current boyfriend with your ex boyfriend. She still missed the times she had with Puck but Quinn was happy with Mike and cared about him a greta deal. He was good for her and she loved being in a relationship with him. She didn't want anything messing it up but she also didn't want to shove her happiness in her ex's face.

Luckily for her, Puck noticed Quinn's red cheeks and shivering arms and forgot all about Mike. "It's cold, you should get going. I'll call or text you before I leave to pick you up."

Quinn grinned. "Sounds good. See you then." She turned around and walked through the snow to her car. Quinn drove home and was happy that she was in a happy, committed relationship, friends with her ex who had meant more than she could ever imagine to her, and that she was soon going to see her daughter. She was deathly scared for the pain she knew she would feel when it was time to part but she was also too excited to care too much. This was her daughter. The one person she would give up everything for. She had done everything to make sure that she had been born healthy and Quinn knew that her heart would melt as soon as she laid her eyes upon her once again. She was just glad that Puck would be there as well. Seeing Beth was something she knew she would never be able to do on her own.

Soon it was New Year's Eve. Quinn had hung out with Mike the day before but had not told him of her plan for seeing Beth with Puck. There was just never a good opportunity. They were having too much light-hearted fun for Quinn to ruin it with a serious conversation. Quinn had planned on telling him before it actually happened as she knew that she would be in big trouble if she did it and then Mike found out that she had hid it from him. She just didn't know when exactly. She was hoping that the moment would simply present itself to her.

Anyways it was New Year's Eve and Mike had told Quinn that they had to go to a massive party that one of the football players was having. His parents had apparently gone on vacation during the winter break and had left their son alone in a big empty house with plenty of food money that he had instead spent on booze with a fake I.D. It was going to be an epic party and Mike insisted they go. Quinn loved a good party and loved even more a chance to show off her perfect relationship in front of all of her peers to impress them so she was definitely in. They were taking a taxi to the guy's house because both were planning on drinking. Mike had gotten a drive to Quinn's house from his dad and the taxi was picking them up from there.

Mike had walked up the stairs to her bedroom when he laid eyes on Quinn. She was wearing a skin tight red mini dress with a white short sleeve cardigan as the party was casual but still all the girls were getting dressed up since it was New Years Eve and all. Mike whistled once he saw his girlfriend and walked up to Quinn putting his hands on her hips.

"Quinn you are seriously the hottest girl on the entire planet." He said with his face inches in front of hers.

Quinn smiled and bit her lip. "I bet you've said that to all of your girlfriends."

Mike smirked and shook his head. "I've been saving that one for the right girl. It's not my fault that you're so hot I think I should be wearing oven mitts right now."

Quinn laughed and leaned in closer to Mike to kiss him on the lips. She had meant for the kiss to be short and sweet but mike started intensifying it fast. Quinn mentally rolled her eyes. She had a feeling when she decided to add sex to the relationship that it would change things. Gone were the days when she could sit around and only give Mike a peck on the cheek. The days since they had sex for the first time he had taken every opportunity to try and do it again. Every kiss was becoming open-mouthed. Laying on each other's bed could never be innocent anymore. It wasn't that Quinn minded so much, it was fun for the most part. She simply noticed the difference in the relationship and wondered if she was going to mind it later on down the line. She also didn't want to make everything too sexual. It was nice to just have a chaste kiss once in a while. Not everything had to be sexy and passionate. She knew that Mike wasn't a complete horn dog but he was a teenage boy which meant sex was on his mind almost every second. They hadn't done it since the first night but Quinn was thinking that his expectations were high for that night as it was the end of 2010. Quinn didn't see the hype in all of it but knew that others found it inevitable to have sex on New Year's.

Quinn pulled away from the embrace. "I still need to finish getting ready."

Mike sighed but dropped his arms from around her and sat on her bed as Quinn finished straightening her hair and perfecting the smokey eye look. She was determined to be the hottest girl at the party. It wasn't something that needed much preparation but Quinn needed to ensure that she would be the hottest. Santana had texted Quinn earlier saying that she was planning on wearing a black leather mini skirt and a dark black lace shirt with a neon bra under it. It was clear that she was going to have competition but Quinn thought that her slutty look was also classy whereas Santana's was going to be slutty and trashy. Either way Santana was going to be trying to hook up with as many boys as she could in the one night. It had become a tradition for her every New Year's Eve. Brittany was apparently joining her on the mission this year and at the end of the night they would reward the boys with seeing them making out with each other as the clock stroked twelve. Lord knows what Britney was going to wear. Quinn wouldn't have been surprised if she showed up in a bikini even though it was the middle of winter and in Ohio. The girl was without the doubt the dullest tool in the shed. Still she was nice to Quinn when she wasn't doing Santana's dirty work so the head cheerleader didn't talk too much smack about her.

Quinn brushed out her hair and added volumizing spray to her blonde locks as she asked her boyfriend, "How wasted are you planning on getting tonight?"

Mike shrugged his shoulders. "It's New Year's babe so I don't know. Not too wasted. I'm hoping on remembering tonight." He winked at her and Quinn couldn't help but giggle. She shook her head. "How are you so sure that we're even going to sleep with each other?"

Mike pretended to look shocked. "We're going to sleep together? Why did no one ever inform me of this?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and put in her diamond stud earrings. Mike continued on with his act. "I mean if you really want to I guess I could manage it but… it'd just be nice to get some notice when you're hot for this next time." He motioned down to his body and Quinn stuck her finger down her throat, pretending to gag.

"Let's just see how tonight goes _Michael _and then we'll decide about later tonight." She walked over to the bed and wrapped her arms around Mike's neck as she sat on his lap. She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "But if you get too wasted then I probably won't feel up to it."

Mike smirked. "Don't worry. I just imposed a three beer limit on myself. It's all good Quinn."

At that moment Quinn's cell phone rang. Mike sighed as she got off of her lap to answer the call. She pressed the little green phone button on her cell and put it up to her ear. "Hey Mercedes."

"Girl what are you doing tonight?" Mercedes asked with excitement in her voice.

"Mike and I are going to some party," Quinn replied, "It's supposed to be insane. I'm kind of remembering how much I used to love these types of parties."

Mercedes started whispering inaudibly to whoever was with her. Quinn tried to listen in but couldn't make out anything that her friend was saying. Mercedes turned her attention back to Quinn. "I guess I should have asked earlier. Dwayne and I are hanging out with Tina, Artie, Sam, and Kurt at my house tonight. We were wondering if you wanted to come over and bring Mike. Us losers were just going to watch the concerts and specials going on in New York. Order some pizzas, maybe start a karaoke revolution, but I'm guessing that you and the boyfriend aren't up for missing the party of the century."

Quinn rolled her eyes. Lately Mercedes had been pushing the subject of popularity on Quinn. She kept insisting that Quinn could never hang out because she was too cool to know be associated with her old friends when the facts were that Quinn's schedule was not as free as it once had been and Mercedes kept asking her to hang out last minute. Quinn thought that Mercedes was definitely thinking that she wanted to ditch her and Kurt but it wasn't true at all. It was actually insulting to be told that time and time again. Quinn was a good friend to those who were truly her friends. She didn't want to deal with Mercedes doubting her or constantly being sassy.

Quinn tried to make her response lighthearted so that Mercedes wouldn't take it as personally as Quinn knew she would otherwise. "I think that Mike might kill me if we miss this party Mercedes. It's all he's been talking about for days. Thanks for inviting us though. We totally need to hang out soon girl. Maybe Mike and Dwayne can join us and we can double date!"

"Maybe," Mercedes said solemnly, "But I miss hanging out just me, you and Kurt. Isn't there some Facebook group about hating friends who get a boyfriend and forget all about their other friends."

Quinn clicked her tongue. "Mercedes you know that isn't true. We hang out all the time at Glee Club and at lunch. We always hang out at least once a mont hogging to the mall or the movies. Chill out. I'm not ditching you."

"I just feel like we're drifting apart and I don't want to lose you Quinn," Mercedes confessed, "But we can talk about that later. It's New Year's. I didn't mean to depress you. Have a good time at the party."

Quinn smiled. At least Mercedes was accepting things and wasn't purposely trying to make her life miserable. Quinn desperately wanted to have a talk with her girlfriend however to sort things out. "Have a good time with everyone! I'll text you tomorrow."

Quinn hung up the phone and looked back at Mike who was twiddling his thumbs. "Bored?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Listening in on girl drama isn't the most exciting thing to do."

Quinn put a hand on her hip. "Mercedes keeps saying that I'm ditching her. It's easy to hang out with Kurt because he's on Cheerio's so there's so many days after school and at meets on weekends that we can gossip and hang out together but Mercedes quit so it's harder. She acts like I gave up my friendship with her for you. It's stupid. I'm not doing it on purpose. I'm just busy."

Mike nodded. "Don't let it get you down babe. We're going to live it up tonight! Worry about the girl crap tomorrow. Mercedes probably just needs to have a girl day with you to feel special and then she'll go back to normal."

Quinn didn't know if her boyfriend was right but accepting what he was saying was the only way for her to be able to put the situation out of her mind and to have a fun night. She made herself believe it. She would text Mercedes the next day asking her to choose a day for them to get manicures and pedicures together. They would then watch the latest chick flick but before they would splurge on a carb filled dinner. It would be the perfect girl's day and Mercedes would have to realize that Quinn was committed to their friendship just as much as she was.

The taxi came and Quinn and Mike gave their driver to the address of the football player's house. It took about twelve minutes to get there even though it would usually only take five or six minutes. Their driver liked to be very careful while driving which meant driving slower than anyone would expect from an elderly person.

Mike and Quinn got out of the car and walked into the house. They had arrived around an hour after the party had officially began (that being 9:00) so the party was in full swing. Underage drinking and multiple hookups were seen in every direction. Mike took Quinn's hand and led her to the kitchen where all of the alcohol was being kept. Quinn had never seen so much beer, coolers, vodka, etc. at a house party before. She realized that Mike hadn't been lying when he said that his teammate had used _all _of the food money his parents had left him on booze. Mike took a beer out of an ice bucket and Quinn took a Bacardi Breezer. It was only five percent alcohol so she knew she wouldn't get drunk off of it.

They walked back downstairs to the basement where rounds of beer pong were being played. Matt walked up to the couple. "Dude," He said to Mike, "We need to play! Two of those asshole hockey players keep talking mad shit about the football team! We need to wipe the floor with them!"

Mike fist bumped Matt's hand and turned to Quinn. "You want to watch or do you just want to meet up later?"

Quinn frowned. "I'm not a big spectator of beer pong. I'll come back down here in a half an hour or so." She kissed her boyfriend on the lips and waited around with him until it was his turn to play. While they were waiting they talked with Matt and Shelley, one of Quinn's fellow Cheerio's. Matt was flirting with her and she was hanging on to her arm. It was easy to predict who Matt was planning on kissing when the clock struck twelve.

When it was time for Mike and Matt to face off against the hockey players Quinn walked upstairs to see what else was going on during the party. She asked Shelley if she wanted to come with her, it always seemed cooler to have someone with you and not be a loner, but Shelley decline saying that she wanted to see Matt play and winked at her friend. Though Quinn didn't want to be alone she definitely understood.

She stood straight and confidently walked up the stairs. She saw Finn hanging out sans Rachel for what seemed like the first time since they had started dating again. He was in the living room cheering on Paul, a fellow football player as he chugged down a beer. Quinn smiled at how goofy her ex-boyfriend looked and walked over towards him.

"You getting in on the action anytime soon?" She asked Finn as she looked at Paul licking his lips after finishing his beer in less than forty seconds and back at the beer that Finn was holding in his own hand.

Finn smiled and lifted his beer can. "Just depends how drunk I am after this one."

Quinn smirked. Finn had never been big on drinking, sure he had a couple beers during parties but he wasn't the guy getting so drunk that he ended up streaking by the end of the night. However on special occasions he was known to go all out and get as drunk as the best of them.

"And where's Rachel tonight?" Quinn asked while trying to sound as causal as possible an dehiring her obvious disdain for the obnoxious Barbara Streisand wannabe.

Finn shrugged. "She doesn't really fit in here, you know? She didn't want to come."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. Rachel never missed an opportunity to be without Finn. She insisted on constantly being paired with him when Glee Club called for duets and Quinn had never seen Finn at a party without Rachel so far. He either brought her with him or they went somewhere else like dinner and a movie instead. Quinn found it strange that she didn't want to spend New Year's Eve with Finn.

"Where is she then?"

Finn furrowed his brow, obviously trying to remember whatever Rachel had told him previously. "Someplace with Tina. Shakespeare in the park? Or Broadway Karaoke night? It was something like that."

Quinn shook her head. "Tina's went to Mercedes's house tonight."

Finn took his cell phone out of his pocket and fumbled his fingers as he tried to find a text message. He turned his phone around so Quinn could see the message. _Those parties aren't really my scene Finn and I was planning on going to a Broadway Karaoke night with Tina instead. Happy New Year's baby, I'll see you tomorrow 3_

"See," Finn told her, "She's out singing all of those songs she makes me pretend to listen to. I was kind of pissed though cause now I don't have anyone to kiss at midnight and she already texted me saying I couldn't replace her."

Quinn accepted that she was wrong once she saw the text message and giggled. "Well that majorly sucks. Isn't it supposed to be lucky or something to kiss at midnight?"

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, maybe… but I'm just in it for the tongue action."

At that moment Paul came up from behind Finn and put his hands on his shoulders. "Dude you're missing the party! Stop the chit chat and start chugging!"

The crowd around Finn started to chant 'Chug, Chug, Chug' and Quinn smiled and waved him off. "Go on! Your audience is awaiting you!"

Finn laughed and told Quinn that he would catch up with her later. Quinn then made her way out of the living room to the kitchen. She had finished her first drink and took a second one. A couple of girls that Quinn was friendly with were there so she started talking with them. They were discussing how slutty Santana was dressed so Quinn had no trouble jumping right into the conversation. Her total make out count so far was five guys, and the night was still young. Britney had apparently made out with three guys and one girl. As they continued to discuss the skanky actions of the duo, a volleyball player Isla, who had dated Karofsky and been particularly rude to her when she was pregnant pranced up to the group.

"You might want to keep a better eye on your man Quinnie." She sneered.

Quinn immediately wanted to smack the catty girl. Not only had she used the most snotty tone she could have mustered to speak to her but she had also called her Quinnie. That name was reserved only for her parents to call her, and even then she could barely tolerate it. Quinn didn't know where Isla got off talking to her like that, especially since Quinn's position at the top of the school was established but she had talked to her the same way she had when Quinn was nothing but a pregnant outcast.

Quinn gave her a dirty look as she turned away from the group of catty girls she had been talking about to focus her attention on the single catty girl in front of her. "Excuse me?"

Isla gave her a smug smile. "Mike is downstairs grinding with one of my volleyball girls. Seriously grinding. Like it looks like they're trying to make a baby of their own to match your bastard child kind of dancing. I thought you two were the new Cory and Topanga but I guess not."

Quinn wanted to run downstairs and see if what Isla was talking about but she knew that she had to play it cool. She had to be confident and not doubt that her boyfriend was nothing but completely faithful to her. She also wanted to grab Isla's hair and pull it out of her fake head for mentioning her baby but she managed to control herself. She couldn't let anyone see Isla get to her so she cooly waved the volleyball player away. "Go start trouble somewhere else Isla. Maybe your New Year's resolution should be to not start shit constantly."

The girls that Quinn had been talking about laughed as Isla walked away in a huff. Quinn laughed it off as well but looked toward the basement staircase wondering what the appropriate amount of time was to wait until she hurried downstairs to make sure that Mike wasn't being an idiot. She chatted with the girls for five more minutes, talking about cool the volleyball girls that they were when really they were all butch wannabes, until she told them that she was going to meet up with Mike.

"Worried about what Isla said?" One of the girls asked with a wink.

Quinn giggled and rolled her eyes. "Not even. See you girls a little later."

Quinn then tried her best not to run downstairs to the basement. She might have had a spring in her step, but she was definitely not running. Quinn would never be that desperate. When she got to the bottom of the steps she looked around to find Mike. She finally saw him laying down on the coach in the back of the room drinking a beer. Beside him was Matt and Shelley making out, and beside them was Olivia, a volleyball player. Quinn's heart started racing. Maybe Isla had been right and Mike had been grinding and it was olivia he had been doing it with. Quinn cursed herself for not going downstairs earlier. She walked over to Mike.

"What happened to the three beer limit?" She asked him with her hand on her hip and her tone without a drop of playfulness in it.

Mike smiled at his girlfriend. "It's the last one - I swear. And I didn't have much during beer pong. Me and Matt wiped the floor with those douchebags!" Matt without distracting himself from Shelley lifted up his hand to give his best friend a high five. Mike did as such.

Quinn motioned with her finger for him to stand up. He did so and she took Mike's hand and led him over to an empty corner of the room where they could get as much privacy as was possible.

"Were you dancing with anyone before I came down? Like grinding, getting down and dirty dancing?"

"What," Mike yelled confused, "Quinn come on - what are you talking about?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Were you dancing with any girl before I came down _Michael_?"

Mike rolled his eyes and immediately got into a huff. "Quinn come on! Don't be paranoid! You're my girl and that's it! Let's just chill tonight alright?" He put his hands on Quinn's hips and pulled her in closer towards him.

Quinn shrugged Mike's hands off of her as she crossed her arms across her chest. She wasn't sure what to believe. Mike had never given her a reason to doubt him, and Isla wasn't exactly the most trustworthy girl she had known but Quinn couldn't help her paranoia set in. She sighed and realized that it wasn't worth getting in an argument over, especially since Isla seemed to have just been trying to start trouble as soon as Quinn's life was back on track.

"I'm sorry," She whispered, "I'm just stupid. Isla told me you were and… I'm sorry okay? Can we just pretend I never asked?"

Mike pretended to think about it for a second and then laugh it off. He pulled Quinn into a hug. "Yeah I'll forgive you babe, but just learn to trust me okay? I'm not trying to mess this up."

Quinn nodded and stood on her tip-toes so that she could kiss Mike on the lips. She then held his hand and walked upstairs with him so they could be where the party was really at. The basement seemed to be where beer pong, making out, and grinding was happening exclusively. Quinn led him to the living room where Finn had been chugging beer previously. He was now hanging out with a bunch of his friends. Puck being one of them. He nodded in her direction when he saw her entering the room. Quinn smiled at him and whispered to Mike, "How long after midnight do you want to stay at this party?"

Mike shrugged his shoulders. "Well is the taxi making one stop when we go home or two?"

Quinn smiled. "I was thinking only one."

Mike grinned and checked his watch. It was 11:34. "I say we stay until like 12:30 and then head on back to your house."

Quinn nodded and said it sounded like a good plan. After midnight the party would still be on but she didn't feel like being there anymore. Parties caused too much drama and she had been through too much of it for one night. She would rather go home and have fun with Mike then stay at the party and have more girls like Isla try and cause trouble within her relationship.

Mike sat down on the chair across from the other football players and Cheerio's. Quinn sat on his lap and they listened in on the conversation that was debating the best way to get free beer. Puck was insisting that it was to stand behind parking lots and look depressed until old cougars came along while one of the Cheerio's Dawna was saying that offering to make out with another girl always did the trick. Quinn laughed along with the group and realized how lucky she was. If she had kept Beth, no matter how much she loved her, she would never be able to sit around and just talk about underage drinking with her 'friends'. She would always be preoccupied with being a mom and never being able to have fun and be laid-back. She looked at Puck who was still throughly engaged in the conversation. She smiled because she knew that though he had wanted to keep Beth terribly, he wasn't prepared to be a father. It also was good that he also had the opportunity to have fun and be a teenager as well. In the end they had done what was best for Beth and Quinn was happy that not only did it give Beth what she deserved, but it also was the best thing to do for both her and Puck.

Quinn turned her attention back to Mike who was showing his obliviousness by announcing to the group that he didn't even have a fake ID so that he could buy the beer himself. Quinn giggled at her boyfriend's confession along with the rest of the group.

Puck announced, "If you need one I got a guy who could make you one."

Mike looked at his girlfriend's ex and nodded. "Yeah that'd be good. Just text me his number or whatever."

Puck agreed and Quinn took Mike's hand and held it. Though she was glad that her and Puck were now comfortable enough to be in the same room together, she wasn't sure if she could be comfortable with her boyfriend and her ex being friendly, even if they had been friends before her and Mike started dating. As soon as that happened, Puck and Mike's friendship seemed to disappear and until tonight Quinn had not seen them interacting with each other much at all.

About ten minutes later the entire party was regulated to the living room where the big screen TV was turned on and the countdown to Midnight was getting closer and closer. People were finishing off drinks and scurrying the room trying to make sure that they had secured someone to kiss when the clock struck twelve. Quinn was thankful that she had Mike and didn't have to worry about finding anyone, even though she knew she only had to look in a man's direction to land someone to kiss. She tried not to make it noticeable when she peeked over to Puck to see who he was going to kiss. She cringed when she saw that he had Olivia wrapped in his arms. Even if she had now known that Olivia hadn't been grinding with Mike she still felt some sort of hostility towards the girl and seeing Quinn seeing her with her ex didn't help matters.

Brittany and Santana were holding pinkies as they waited to reward the boys around them by kissing each other at midnight. Santana had upped her make out count to fourteen boys by the end of the night while Britney had made out with eight boys and three girls. Quinn was surprised that Matt was one of Santana's make out partners considering how hard he had tried to stay away from her for months and had finally managed to have her forget about him. However, he did have a lot to drink and alcohol has a tendency to change a person's opinions.

There was one minute left in the year of 2010. The teenagers yelled as they counted down each second. Quinn's heart was racing, it seemed like such a significant moment. 2010 had caused her more drama then she could ever have possible imagined. She had been pregnant, changed into a social outcast, moved homes multiple times, gave birth, had to give up her baby, went through a whirlwind romance only to have her heart broken, and had to build her popularity from the ground up. It seemed like as the year ended it would mean a new beginning for Quinn. She would no longer face the fears of being a loner or being alone. She wouldn't have to deal with terrible stress. She would be a normal teenage girl who was happy with her boyfriend, on good terms with her ex, and having more friends than she could count. 2011 would be an amazing year. Quinn was sure of it.

The crowd was getting more excited and their voices became louder as they started counting down from ten seconds. "TEN… NINE… EIGHT… SEVEN… SIX… FIVE…. FOUR… THREE… TWO… ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Quinn wrapped her hands around Mike's neck as he leaned down to kiss her. She let the kiss become more intense than she would normally in public. Quinn smiled and opened her eyes to make sure that all of the other couples were also still engaging in their kisses. Thankfully they were so Quinn didn't feel the need to worry that everyone was watching them as she let the kiss turn into a french kiss. After a minute they parted from the kiss and Quinn saw that the attention was squarely on Santana and Brittany who were now laying not the floor as they made out. Quinn rolled her eyes. Those girls were as desperate for attention as they came.

The party started breaking up in the living room as people wen toff to do their own thing again. Quinn was grabbed by Shelley and asked if she could ask her a question. Quinn looked at Mike and he told her to go and that he would be downstairs in the basement, watching the next pairing of people to go head to head in beer pong. Quinn nodded and followed Shelley to one of the bathrooms, which seemed to be the only place to get privacy, something Shelley insisted was needed. They closed the door and Quinn asked what was up. Shelley was swaying to and fro as she had a little too much to drink that night.

"You know him more than I do… is Matt a good guy or a jerk? Cause I really want to hook up with him tonight but if he's some player then I just don't want to. You know?"

Quinn nodded. "He's a nice guy. It's up to you if you want to do it when you're drunk. All I know is that he's always been a good guy."

Shelley grinned like she had spent the night with a clothes hanger in her mouth. She thanked Quinn and opened the bathroom door where she then stumbled off to find Matt. Quinn giggled and took out her cell phone from her clutch. She texted Mercedes so the girl knew they were still on good terms. _Hey girl! Tell everyone I say Happy New Year's! Hope you're all having fun! :)_

Quinn was about to put the cell phone back when it buzzed. Mercedes had answered fast. _Happy New Years to you too! Girl's day soon?_

Quinn replied: _For sure, I'll text you details when I'm a little more sober :P _She then put the phone back into her purse and started walking in the direction of the basement stairs. As she was doing so she felt someone tap her shoulder from behind. She turned around to see Puck standing in front of her.

She smiled at him, a benefit of being friends with him now, and yelled, "Happy New Year," over the noise of the rest of the party. Puck returned her sentiments and motioned to the corner of the room as he wanted to talk to her. She nodded and they walked off to an empty corner with no drunk partygoers or other unnecessary noises.

"I wanted to talk to you earlier," Puck explained, "But every time I saw you, you were with Mike and I didn't know if you had told him yet. I just wanted to make sure that we were still on for Monday?"

Quinn nodded her head. "Of course, yeah. But… I haven't exactly told Mike yet. There just hasn't been a good moment."

Puck looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "Would he be jealous?"

Quinn laughed, trying to make sure that Puck thought that the idea was completely ridiculous even though she herself had though about it on occasion. "No, but it's not something you just announce. We never talk about Beth or me being pregnant. It'd be the first time and it just needs to be the right moment."

Puck took a strand of her hair and placed it behind her hair. "Sorry, it was bothering me."

Quinn giggled and without thinking took a step closer towards her ex. "It's alright. I had almost forgot that you could actually be sweet at times."

He scoffed. "Don't let that get around. It's taken a lot of throwing losers in dumpsters for everyone to start fearing me again."

Quinn and Puck gazed into each other's eyes and for a moment they weren't exes. She wasn't dating Mike and he hadn't called her names that hurt so much. They hadn't been explosive with each other. They were just two people that cared deeply for each other, that were looking into the other's eyes. Quinn felt an electricity, a spark, and she knew that Puck had to be feeling it as well. It was strong… but at the same time it was too strong. Quinn had to snap out of it and avert her gaze. It was hard though, and it took her a second try to actually shift her head to look down at her feet. Both of the pair smiled uncomfortably.

Puck was the one to break the silence. "I'll call you before I leave to pick you up. And uh… I'm kind of drunk and Olivia keeps waving me over so I think I should leave before I say something stupid or mean and ruin everything."

Quinn watched Puck walk past her and over to Olivia who bit her lip seductively as he reached her. Quinn saw them walk off together, with Puck's arm wrapped around her waist and Quinn shook her head. She had to bring herself back to reality. Watching them any longer would just make her angry or jealous and she shouldn't be. Puck was her friend and Mike was her boyfriend. Quinn turned around to walk downstairs to the basement but saw that Mike was waiting for her a couple of feet away with a frown plastered on his face. Quinn was confused and walked up to him to investigate what was going on.

"What's that look for?" She asked.

Mike pointed to where she had just been standing. "You fucking say I was grinding with some random chick when you didn't even see anything but you can go and have eye sex with your ex?"

Quinn put her face in her hands and cursed herself. So much for a year without drama. It hadn't taken much time for that to change at all. She lifted her head back up and gave her best puppy dog face to her boyfriend. "That was nothing Mike. We were just talking… I promise. Why don't you call the taxi and we can go back to my house?"

Mike shook his head. He wasn't going to let Quinn get away that easy. "I just don't like you guys talking so much. It pisses me off." Quinn knew that alcohol was definitely affecting her usually laid-back boyfriend.

"You're jealous." She teased.

"Hell yeah," He replied, "Can you blame me? You guys have fucking history and it sucks seeing you making gaga eyes at him. Can you just lay off of it a bit? I don't go around talking to Mai constantly."

Quinn thought about what Mike was saying. On the one hand she didn't like him telling her who to talk to, or rather who not to. On the other hand she did understand where he was coming from. If she saw Mike staring at Mai the way she had just stared at Puck she would have gotten jealous as well. She figured that maybe she would have to wait bait longer to tell him of the plan to see Beth. She decided to cease the fighting and give in to Mike's wishes. At least until he was sober and in his right mind again.

"Fine, I won't talk to him. Can you just go call the taxi cab?"

Mike nodded and left to walk outside and call. It was too noisy to even consider calling inside of the house. Quinn waited inside as it was freezing outside and she was in a mini dress after all. She made small talk with the people around her until Mike came in and told her that the cab was outside waiting for them.

The ride to Quinn's house was mostly silent. They both sat far apart with their arms crossed around their chests. The pair were both still going over what had happened at the party just moments before. Quinn sighed. This was not how she wanted her New Year's to be like. This wasn't how she wanted her relationship to be. She had loved it for being easy and comfortable but all it seemed like now was drama. She knew that she had to smooth things over.

"We're going to my house to have sex but we're angry with each other. Does that sound as messed up to you as well?"

Mike turned to face her and smirked. "Not really. I've heard that hate sex is pretty hot."

Quinn put her serious face on. "I don't hate you."

Mike shifted closer to Quinn and put his hand on the side of her face. "I'm kidding. I don't hate you Quinn. I could never. Not even when we're fighting or if we break up. It's impossible." He was whispering and using it as an excuse to get as close to her face as possible.

Quinn bit her lip and looked deep into Mike's dark brown eyes. "Promise?"

He nodded and sealed his vow with a chaste kiss on her lips. Quinn smiled against his lips that their argument was over with and they were no longer fighting. This was they way she liked things. Simple and without any type of dramatics to it.

The taxi cab parked in front of the Fabray house. The couple paid their driver and walked out to the front door. Quinn's mother was at a get together with her friends and wasn't due back until one-thirty. Though she would be back while they were still there, Ms. Fabray was not one to check on Quinn on that time. Especially when she didn't even know if she would be home or not. They made their way upstairs to her bedroom, entwined with each other and collapsed on her bed as they kissed.

After the sex was over Mike put his arm around Quinn and they both lay on their backs looking up at the ceiling. Quinn turned her head upwards and planted a kiss on Mike's cheek.

Mike smiled. "I'm not going to say that I love you… mostly cause that'd freak you out and it's too soon… but I like you Quinn… so much."

Quinn grinned and giggled out of sheer happiness. "I get it. I kind of adore you Mike."

He stroked her arm. "I don't want to fight anymore. I want to make this work because I'm honestly falling for you and I don't want anything to get messed up. Let's just be honest with each other from now on. Let's cut the crap and we should be good."

Quinn thought about it. It made sense but something was pressing on her. He said that they should be honest with each other, and she didn't want to be a nagging girlfriend but she had to ask just one more time. It was the only thing that would make her sleep well.

"Do you mean it… complete honesty?"

Mike tightened his grip around Quinn. "Of course babe."

Quinn turned to her side so she could see his facial reaction as she asked, "Were you grinding with Olivia tonight when I was upstairs?"

Mike closed his eyes and sighed. It wasn't a good sign. Quinn could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she realized that Isla had been telling the truth. "Okay I was… but I was drunk and it didn't mean a thing. It was stupid. Sorry."

Quinn felt her stomach rope and her heart sink. It was at that moment she realized how much Mike meant to her. She wouldn't get this upset if he was just another guy. She cared for him and he had hurt her. It wasn't official cheating, but it seemed as good as. Especially considering how dirty Isla had described the dancing previously. Quinn wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt her. She spoke up with the first thing that popped into her head.

"On Monday Puck and I are going to see Beth." She said it in a monotone and looked him in the eye as she said it with her poker face on. She saw his face drop and felt his arm move so that it was no longer around her.

Mike sat up. "You said you weren't going to talk to him anymore."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Whoops. You said that you hadn't danced with anyone tonight."

Mike shook his head. "No, I danced with some girl and felt fucking guilty about it. I was man enough to admit it. Were you even going to tell me about what you were lying about?"

Quinn nodded. "I've been trying but there's never a good time! Plus we're seeing our _daughter_! It's kind of a huge deal! You basically cheated! Big difference _Michael_!"

Mike stood up from the bed and put his boxers back on. He fumbled around looking for the rest of his clothes that had been tossed on the ground in the heat of the moment.

Quinn wrapped the bed sheet tightly around her as she noticed her nakedness and cared about it more than ever. "He also bought me a record player for Christmas."

"Why the hell are you telling me that?" Mike yelled at her as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Quinn felt tears running down her cheeks. "I don't know! You're so damned mad at me for something you shouldn't be so maybe if I just tell you everything you'll end up having something that actually should make you angry!"

Quinn didn't know what was coming over her. She was insanely frustrated that Mike had lied to her and then had the audacity to be mad at her for visiting her child with Puck. He was the father after all! it was expected that he would come. Mike was being delusional and Quinn couldn't understand why. She just wanted some of his anger to be justified and though she didn't think she had done anything to make it so, she was trying. She knew it was idiotic but the whole fight seemed stupid to her.

Mike was fully dressed and was standing at the foot of the bed, facing Quinn. "So you guys are secret friends or some shit? Sneaking around behind my back?"

Quinn crawled forward to be closer to Mike as she made sure that the sheet was still securely around her. "It's not like that! There just never was a good time to tell you! We haven't done anything! We're trying not to hate each other and be friendly. I thought you'd understand. I'm sorry I didn't tell you!"

Mike put his hand up and turned around to leave. "I need to be alone. I need to think about things."

Quinn's bottom lip quivered. "Mike," She whispered, "Are you breaking up with me?"

That would be the worst. She was finally the Queen Bee and she was going to be dumped? It wouldn't sit well with anyone and she would be ridiculed for it. Quinn crossed her fingers that Mike wouldn't be hasty and would reconsider what he was saying.

"No," He replied as she silently thanked God, "At least not yet. I just need a few days… to be alone. I'll call you."

Quinn nodded, not wanting to start another fight in case she jinxed things and let Mike walk out of her bedroom and out of her house. She cried at the ridiculousness of things and whimpered as she drifted off to sleep. This wasn't how the new year was supposed to be like. A fight with her boyfriend on the first day of 2011 was too terrible to be true. Quinn was furious that Mike had acted like he was the only one with a right to be mad. He had practically cheated on her but she was the one left looking like the bad guy.

The next two days Quinn spent mostly at home, in a tangled mess of self-pitying and depression. She didn't want to lose Mike. Even if she was mad at what he had done she wanted him to forgive her so that they could move past things. He meant a lot to her. Quinn said many prayers that he would let this all past. It wasn't like she had done anything terrible. Sure, she had been keeping secrets from him, but she had the intention of telling him. The right moment just never presented itself until it was too late. On the Sunday Quinn had managed to get out of the house to hang out with Shelley, Brittany, and Santana at the mall as the girls described their New Year's hookups. Quinn kept silent on the subject and didn't dare mention her fight with Mike. It would just make everything a million times worse to have the whole school know her relationship problems, as they sure would once the gossipers had spread it around. Quinn simply told them that Mike and her had fun once they had left the party and kept it at that. Quinn also made plans with Mercedes to hang out on Tuesday. They were going to get their nails done, go to lunch, and watch a chick flick at the movie theatre. It was just what they needed to catch up and reconnect. Both were excited for the girl's day.

On Monday Quinn woke up early so that she could make sure she looked perfect. She knew that a lot of pictures would for sure be taken and she wanted to look impeccable in them. She would only have so many pictures with Beth and she needed to look her best in them. Not that it even mattered. The day was all about seeing her daughter that she had given up not even seven months ago. Quinn was extremely excited to see Beth. She wondered if she was speaking yet, or if she was able to walk around. She wanted to know everything about her, and spend as much time with her as was possible. However, though Quinn was looking forward to seeing her daughter, she was also deathly afraid. She wasn't scared of visiting Beth, but of leaving her. She could still remember the huge amount of pain that had came with giving Beth up to Shelby and could only imagine that the pain would be as hurtful this time. Quinn couldn't understand how Puck was so ready to accept the pain, but she admired him for it.

Quinn picked out her outfit carefully. She chose a light blue cotton tank dress that fell just below the knee and had a high collar. She paired it with a long grey cardigan that had seen much wear during her pregnancy days as it was meant to be loose and turned out to be one of the only things that could still fit her until the middle of her third trimester. She accessorized and wore simple blue ballet flats that matched the colour of her dress. She let her fall naturally, with loose curls and applied her make up lightly. She looked at herself i the mirror and saw the natural but piercing beauty she had always been proud of. She hoped that if nothing else, Beth would at least appreciate her and Puck for blessing her with good looks.

Quinn ate a light breakfast. She didn't want to go to Shelby's on an empty stomach but she was still extremely nervous and her stomach was in knots. She ate one piece of toast and drank a glass of apple juice. She then waited around trying to fill her time until Puck came to pick her up. She responded to text messages, went through websites on the internet, and watched some TV. There was a rerun of America's Best Dance Crew on and Quinn started to feel sad. Mike and her had watched the show a ton together with Mike trying to recreate some of the tougher moves to impress Quinn during the commercials. He would even teach Quinn how to do some of the easier moves. Quinn prayed that soon Mike would come to his senses, forgive her for whatever she did that was eating him up inside, and they could go back to being the happy couple that they used to be at one point.

Quinn heard her cell phone buzzing which signalled to her that she had a text message. She looked and saw that it was from Puck. The message said: _I'm leaving now. Be there in five._

Quinn wrote back: _Alright, see you then. _and put her phone in her purse. Her stomach was full of butterflies at this point and her heart was beating harder than it ever had in her life. It was coming so soon. She was going to see her daughter in less than an hour! It was unbelievable and Quinn had at one point never thought that the sort of thing would ever happen.

Quinn had told her mother about the plans to visit Beth and although Ms. Fabray didn't think it was necessarily a good idea, she said that she was going to support Quinn in what she wanted to do. So although she thought that it would just cause a bunch of hurt, Ms. Fabray wanted Quinn to feel comfortable in her decisions. She knew that she had been wrong when she had taken her husband's side over her own daughter's when Quinn had been kicked out and Ms. Fabray was not going to make the same mistake twice.

The doorbell rang, Quinn turned off the Tv with the remote control and walked over to the front hallway. She opened the door and saw Puck waiting on the other side. She smiled, said jello, and grabbed her purse telling him she was ready to go.

"That's a change." He said as he smirked at her.

Quinn raised her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"In the summer," He reminded her, "You always took forever to get ready. I'd be outside in my car and you'd be wasting time putting on all of that eye goop."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "It's called mascara Puck."

They walked out to his car and started out on the car drive to Shelby's old apartment. They were to meet her there where they would say hello to Beth, help move furniture into the moving vans and then drive to Shelby's new house where they would keep Beth preoccupied while Shelby and some of her family members and friends helped set up and unpack the things they had just moved.

The car ride started off silent, neither of the pair knowing what to say to the other. Quinn especially after all she had went through with Mike just two days prior. After ten minutes however the silence became unberable for the both of them. Quinn decided to be the first to initiate conversation.

"Are you nervous?"

Puck kept his eyes on the road as he replied, "Yeah, but it doesn't matter. I want to see her."

Quinn nodded. "I'm scared." She whispered it, not wanting him to know how weak she was with this matter even though she knew he was the only one that wouldn't care at all.

As she expected, he didn't make fun of her or patronize her. Puck simply nodded and told her that he was scared as well. "I am too... but it's okay. Once we see her it'll be worth it."

Quinn looked out of the side of her window at the trees and farmalnd they were passing by. There wasn't much else in Lima, which was what bummed Quinn out at lot. She felt destined to live an unfurfilliong life because of where she was born. She had been determined to break out of it, go to college in another state, get a good job, and have a successful life. She still wanted that, but it seemed that after having Beth her goals were more skewed towards famly life than her career and material objects.

"Do you really believe that?" She asked sullenly.

"Yeah." Puck said it assuredly, trying to convince Quinn to feel the same way.

Quinn sighed. "I just want to see that she's okay. Like, I know that Shelby's taking care of her well and all but I just need to see it for myself. I need to see her smiling and laughing and then I'll feel a lot better about it all."

Puck turned the street corner and asked, "She looked really happy in the pictures, didn't she?"

Quinn nodded her head. "She did, but I just need to see it up close, you know? It's going to be super hard when it's time to leave."

Quinn had been wondering since she had arranged the meeting how she would cope when it was time to leave. She knew that she would be crying buckets full of tears but she didn't know how she would ever stop. At first Quinn had thought that maybe Mike would be able to come over and comfort her but it was clear that was out of the question. After her fight with Mike, Quinn had considered asking Puck to stay with her for the night as it might help her calm down but she knew it was a bad idea. If Mike ever found out about it their relationship would officially be over for sure, but Quinn hadn't heard from him for two days so she wasn't even sure if their relationship was still alive. She hadn't heard anything to contrary though so she was keeping her hopes up. In the end she didn't want to hurt Mike anymore, or be a hypocrite after she had gotten mad at him for grinding, so she knew that it wasn't possible for Puck to stay over. Still, Quinn needed to find a way to cope after Puck and her left Shelby and Beth. Maybe she could talk to her mom, or call Mercedes. She wasn't exactly sure at the moment.

Puck seemed to be thinking as well. His brows were furrowed and he was biting on the inside of his cheek. "Afterwards we could go out or something. Like for dinner, and we could talk about it. If you want..."

Quinn smiled at Puck. He could be such an asshole at times, but he always amanged to make her heart melt with his sweet sentiments. She thought about it and decided that dinner was innocent enough to agree to. "I'd like that." She told Puck.

The conversation quickly drifted off into the light, fluffy topics of Glee Club, Cheerio's, the football team's new record of winning 2 games, and Rachel Berry being quite possibly the most annoying human being on the face of the planet. When Puck drove into the pakring lot of Shelby's apartment Quinn's heart started racing at the speed of light. Her daughter was only a few flight of stairs away from her. Puck parked his truck and they started walking towards the front doors.

Before they opened the front doors, Quinn turned towards Puck. "Slap me, or kick me in the shins if I start freaking out and acting like a fool up there."

Puck nodded and gulped. "Same goes for you to me. If I start spazzing out or I look like I want to kidnap her... just knee me in the nuts or something."

Quinn laughed and the pair opened the doors and walked up the flights of stairs to the fourth floor where Shelby and Beth lived. Quinn had insisted they take the stairs because she still needed time to prepare herself. Puck told her that a few extra minutes probably wouldn't do her any good but Quinn insisted and he wasn't going to argue with her over it.

They finally made their way to Shelby's apartment and stood in front of the door. Both Puck and Quinn took a second to collect their thoughts, and then Puck knocked twice on the hard wood of the door.

In about fifteen seconds they heard a familair female voice say, "Coming! Just one second!" They heard heels on the floorboard coming closer to the door. They saw the doorknob turn and the door open. Shelby was on the other side, her hair up in a ponytail, and looking tired but as pretty as ever.

"Oh I'm so glad to see you two," She cried giving each Puck and Quinn a warm hug, "Come in! Come in!"

Puck and Quinn walked into a mostly empty apartment with taped up boxes scattered around what used to be the living room. Quinn wondered where Beth was as she was nowhere to be seen or heard. Her head immediately started coming up with the worst possible situations and she was worried. She tried to play it cool though, knowing that Shelby ewas a good woman and that Beth was safe. She could even be in the next room sleeping for all Quinn knew.

"I'm sorry that it's such a mess around here. I wanted the boxes to be all neat and organzied but I ended just packing and leaving the boxes wherever they were. It's been so chaotic the past few days."

Quinn nodded. "Don't worry. We're teenagers, we've definitely seen worse messes before."

Shelby giggled and smiled at the couple sweetly. "It really is so nice to see you two. You guys have made me the happiest person in the world. Beth is just the cutest, sweetest, most amazing baby I could have ever wished for. I can't thank you enough."

Quinn was about to open her mouth to say that they were just happy to have given their daughter up to someone as good as Shelby but Puck's curiousity and paranoia got to it before her.

"Where is she?" He asked, the worry clearly present in his voice. Quinn would have thought it cute if she hadn't also been embarassed from it.

Shelby's smile dropped. "Oh I should have called and told you, but it just happened an hour ago. I wanted her to be here when you two came but she was so antsy. She doesn't like the apartment being so empty. My mother took her to the new house so she could play in the backyard. I was thinking that you two could take some of the boxes in your car, and then when we got to the new house you could play with Beth and keep her occupied while me and everyone else unpack."

Quinn was instantly at ease and she could tell that Puck felt the same way. He was actually seeming to be very happy with the new plan. Quinn, without thinking, took his hand and squeezed it. She continued holding his hand and told Shelby, "That sounds lovely."

Shelby was walking around the house, picking up the last remains of baby bottles, notepads, pens and stuffing them into her purse. "I'll give you her diaper bag with all of her toys and bottles when we get there. She's going to love it, and don't worry, she's very friendly with starngers."

Quinn didn't think that the woman had meant any wrong by it, but referring to Puck and herself as strangers, instead of the birth parents of the little baby girl put Quinn off a tad. She realized that they hadn't spent any time with Beth since the day she was born, btu strangers seemed like the wrong word to describe them as.

Puck and Quinn helped Shelby to bring the packed boxes downstairs and put them in the trunks of both Shelby's and Puck's vehicles. Shelby gave them the directions to the new house and they both got into the opposite cars to drive off. Quinn and Puck were excited. They wee finally going to get to see their little baby girl Beth.

_Author's Note (Please Read :D) :_

_ I hope you have all enjoyed the latest chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait between chapters but I just got back on Friday from my vacation and I've been writing like crazy for the past three days trying to get this chapter finished! Hopefully the wait for a chapter will never be that long again!_

_ Thank you all so much for those who have read, reviewed, or added me or this story to their alerts or favourites! I appreciate it so much and it honestly means so much to me! You guys are the absolute best! It was such a treat to come home from vacation to so many e-mails telling me that someone had reviewed the story or added it to their favourites! :)_

_ This chapter was really fun to write and I am so excited to start writing the next chapter! I think it'll be the best yet, with tons of Puck/Quinn/Beth moments. _

_ Writers take a lot of time and care to write stories so if you have the time I would appreciate any review that you can give of this story. It could be one word, one sentence, or a whole paragraph! I appreciate any feedback that my readers can give. :) It always brightens up my day no matter how long or how short and it's a great motivator for finishing the next chapter quicker! :)_

_ Thank you for reading once again!_

_ Until next time,_

_ Happy Reading!_


	5. Ties that Bind

As Puck and Quinn were driving to Shelby and Beth's new house they were moving into they both silently counted down the minutes and seconds left until they would say their daughter that they had given up for adoption last June.

"She kind of pissed me off back there." Puck said as he zapped Quinn out of her daydreams of seeing Beth again. She turned her attention away from outside of the passenger seat's window and brought it towards Puck.

"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked before smoothing her dress out. Girls like Quinn were never seen with wrinkles in their dresses.

Puck shrugged his shoulders, trying not to act like it pissed him off _that _much. Just like Quinn couldn't be seen with a wrinkle on her dress, Puck couldn't be seen losing his cool. "When she said Beth was good with strangers. Like we're fucking strangers to her and not her parents."

Though Quinn had similar sentiments before when she had heard Shelby make the statement, she still could understand what the lady had meant. She had a feeling that Puck had taken it a bit more harsh than it had come off to herself.

"Well we kind of are Puck." She muttered it, trying not make it out like she was taking Shelby's side completely.

She saw his mouth drop and his face looked stricken with sadness. She didn't think simple comments like that had the power of hurting the Puckerone but she was obviously mistaken. Quinn tried to smooth the situation over. "I mean we're her parents and everything, her bio parents at least but... we haven't seen her since the say she was born."

Puck nodded but still looked disgruntled. "Aren't we supposed to have a connection with her or some sort of crap like that?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't exactly an expert on the subject. "I don't know Puck. Maybe but seriously... we held her for a total of like an hour. I'm not expecting her to start calling us mama and dada. Puck we aren't her parents. I mean we are... but Shelby is. We're just the ones that gave her the genes."

Puck still did not seemed pleased with her answer. "You carried her around for nine months. You gave birth to her. We spent months worrying about everything. It just doesn't seem right that she doesn't know us."

Quinn didn't want to go through the whole conversation of why that was in Beth's best interest. It seemed like at this point Puck should have realized that by now. Quinn then realized that it might be possible that Puck did not understand such things yet. Though Quinn had accepted the fact months ago, Puck was always a bit slower at things and it wouldn't be so hard to actually think that maybe he didn't fully realize the concept of adoption. Possibly he didn't fully realize that Beth was going to grow up calling Shelby mom and they were just going to be the people that provided her with DNA.

"Puck," She sighed, "We just have to accept that Shelby is her mom. Let's have fun today and worry about everything else later."

That seemed to calm Puck down and he managed to peacefully continue driving to the address that Shelby had given them previously. The pair didn't talk much but were not mad or ignoring each other. Silence helped them. It gave them both moments to think and reflect. It was hard to find someone that made it comfortable to be in silence with and Puck and Quinn had always appreciated their ability to do so with each other.

Once Puck parked the car on the side of the street by Shelby's house both him and Quinn got out of the car and walked up to the front of the house where Shelby was waiting for them. Quinn was pleased that this was the house where Beth would be growing up. It was two stories and made of dark brown brick. It looked elegant but not intimidating. After all, Shelby was living on a teacher's salary so the house was by no means a mansion. It was very nice though and the front yard looked very big. Quinn could imagine Beth playing in it during the summer months.

When they walked up to Shelby she handed Quinn the diaper bag. "It has extra mittens and little things like that in it as well," Shelby explained, "I'll walk you two around to the back. She should be there with my mom. You can play with her, she loves the snow, but she'll probably start crying soon about it being too cold. Just bring her inside then and you guys can play with her with some of her toys."

The plan sounded lovely and Puck and Quinn both walked to the backyard, also large like the front, and saw her. There was their daughter. Beth was picking up small handfuls of snow with her tiny little hands and throwing it up into the hair. Her grandmother, Shelby's mother, was there laughing at the cuteness of the little child. She was beautiful. Bundled up in a winter coat, snow pants, hat, scarf, and mittens, she looked like a little marshmallow but she was without a doubt the cutest thing that either Puck or Quinn had ever laid eyes on. Her hair had grown, now there were tufts of light brown hair on the top of her head, and her rosy cheeks were as chubby as they had been the day she had been born.

Quinn wanted to run up and grab Beth in her arms that very second but she held herself back. She couldn't act like a crazy lady. She had to be calm, cool, and collected or Shelby may not be as open to letting them visit her. She simply giggled at the little girl and looked over at Puck who seemed to be mesmerized by Beth.

Shelby motioned for them to follow her as she walked over to Beth and her mother. She picked her daughter up and placed a soft kiss on her rosy cheek. Beth grinned and it made Quinn want to melt inside. Puck and Quinn stood awkwardly, not as warmly dressed as Beth was, and waited for their turns to hold the sweet baby.

Shelby signalled to her mother to start unpacking the boxes and the older woman made her inside of the house. Shelby then handed the diaper bag to Puck, and focused on Quinn. "I'm sure you two will be fine but it if you happen to have a problem then just come inside and I'll help out. She'll probably only want to be out here for another half hour or so. We'll start unpacking her toys first so you can entertain her when you come inside."

Quinn nodded and then felt her heart race as Shelby moved forward to hand her daughter over to her _other _mom. Not her real mom, but her biological mother, who loved her so much. Quinn couldn't believe how small she still was. She had never felt more whole or complete since giving birth until now when tiny Beth was laying in her arms. Everything was right once more. She was with the one person she had loved so much that she had sacrificed her own pain in order to make a better life for.

Shelby said her goodbyes and went inside to her new house to give Puck and Quinn some privacy with their daughter that they had given up. Quinn wrapped Beth up into her arms and gave her a big hug. She kissed Beth lightly on the forehead and was amazed at how smooth her skin was. She felt the tears coming to the surface and she was not ashamed of being brave or strong. Quinn realized that if there was ever a time to be emotional than this was the time.

Puck frowned when he saw her crying. "Don't start being a baby! She's got to see us being happy."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Shut up you jerk. I am happy. It's nice to see her finally."

Puck nodded, understanding the emotions that Quinn was feeling and waited for his turn to hold Beth. Quinn made sure not to hog her for too long, but it was hard not to. She never wanted to let go of her daughter but she knew that Puck wanted to have a turn with her just as much as she did. Quinn compelled herself to walk a step closer to Puck and put her arms out to let him take their baby girl. He was quick to react and his stone black heart melted as soon as she was in his arms.

He gave Beth a kiss on her forehead and felt the softness of her hair as he grazed his fingertips across the top of her head. Quinn grinned at the scene playing in front of her.

"You look like a dad." She told him.

He smiled at her comment and kissed Beth again. "I wish she was with us all the time."

Quinn felt the tears coming back to her eyes at rapid speed. She wanted to tell Puck that she wanted the same thing more than anything but that this was best for Beth. She didn't however because she knew it was a moot point. She's said the same thing to him time and time again and each time he didn't seem to fully get _why_ it was best for their daughter. Instead, Quinn nodded, wiped the one tear that had fallen from her eye, and asked, "Want to pull her around in the sled over there?"

She pointed to a red toboggan that Beth's grandmother had been pulling her in earlier. Puck nodded and they walked over to it. Puck placed Beth in the seat and took the rope that was attached to it. Quinn laughed as Puck pulled Beth around the backyard and she gave the most startled, happy, and innocent expressions that Quinn had ever seen. Quinn took her camera out of her purse and started snapping away. Puck, someone who was strictly under the code of being too cool for school when it came to pictures, managed to put on his happy face and smile for a few pictures.

The afternoon continued with Quinn and Puck playing with Beth and amusing her outside in the snow. She was a well-behaved child and didn't cry or whimper much, and also could be easily entertained. However, about an hour after playing outside she began to cry about the cold and the teenagers knew that it was time to go inside. Once they did and had removed all of Beth's snow clothes to reveal a cute pair of jeans and a sweater that said _Mommy's Girl_ on it, Shelby came over to give her daughter a diaper change. Afterwards she was ready to play with some blocks, stuffed animals, and other toys. Puck and Quinn treasured every moment they were spending with the little girl and took tons of pictures to remember the day by. Shelby would step in every so often so that the three of them could get group pictures.

"Noah, move over." Quinn whispered when they were trying to squeeze into a chair to take a picture of Quinn feeding Beth her bottle.

Puck raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell are you calling me Noah?"

Quinn motioned to the baby in her arms. "You should have a respectable name in front of her."

He shook his head. "No way. I'm too badass for a name like Noah. She's going to know me as Puck. End of story."

Quinn sighed and moved in closer so Puck could hold Beth's head as she fed her and Shelby snapped the picture.

By five o' clock though, Beth was getting tired after not having her regularly scheduled nap. Both Puck and Quinn knew what it meant. Their fun with Beth was coming to a close and they would soon have to leave her, not seeing her again until June so they could visit her on her birthday. They tried stalling, asking for more stories of Beth since the past six months, or asking for just one more picture, but eventually they realized that they had worn out their welcome and that it was time to go home. The pair didn't want to leave as they couldn't bear tearing themselves away from their daughter and Quinn realized that her fears were becoming a reality. She was going to go through the same process she had when she had given up Beth months ago. It would include lots and lots of crying.

However, the teenagers tried to be brave. Shelby promised to send more pictures soon, perhaps around Valentine's Day, and thanked the two for being such great babysitters. In turn, Puck and Quinn thanked her for allowing them to see their daughter. They tried to be civilized while leaving.

"Kick me in the balls." Puck whispered as he leaned in to say it in Quinn's ear.

"What the hell?" She asked as she held Beth for what was probably going to be the last time for months.

Puck gave Beth a kiss on the cheek. "Because of this. I want to kidnap her so knee me in the groin. As hard as you can; I can take it."

Quinn rolled her eyes but giggled at her ex boyfriend's comment. "We're going to see her again, don't worry," She reminded Puck and then Quinn focused her attention on Beth, "I love you Beth. I'm going to miss you _so _much but you're doing good here with Shelby. I'll see you again soon. I promise."

She then placed a light kiss on Beth's forehead and passed her on to Puck. She tried to give him some privacy as he said his goodbye, mostly because she knew how hard it was for him to be emotional and she didn't want to make him any more hesitant or uncomfortable, but it was hard not to eavesdrop when she wanted to know what he had to say so badly.

"I wish I could take you home," He whispered to his daughter, "But I'll see you soon. Me and Quinn both will. I promise. I love you... so much, and I want you to know that I always loved you. This was the best thing for you though. It's better not being with Quinn and me... or our physco parents. You're better with Shelby. But I love you more than anything. See you later kiddo."

With that he gave his daughter one last kiss and handed her reluctantly back to Shelby who could tell how upset the teenagers were to leave their daughter once again. She told them that she would send a bunch of pictures, and she would update them on Beth's progress. Soon she should be crawling, and trying to make out words. Quinn tried to hold her tears back as much as she could, though she couldn't stop her eyes from looking watery and told Shelby just how much she appreciated the visit. Puck agreed and said he couldn't wait until her birthday so that they could see her again.

Puck took Quinn's hand as he led them outside of the Cochran house and to his car. Quinn was thankful as she needed the support desperately. She didn't want to leave one bit but she knew that her and Puck both needed to. Shelby would be less reluctant to plan other meetings if they were good sports about leaving at an appropriate time and not hanging around like leeches.

Quinn waited until they had reversed out of the parking lot and driving down the street before she burst into tears. Puck put his arm around her shoulder and tightened his grip. "It's okay Quinn. Don't cry."

She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eye with her sleeve. "It just hurts so much. I knew it would be like this."

Puck sighed. "We don't... we don't have to do it again if you get this freaking sad."

Quinn shook her head. "No, don't say things you don't mean. You like doing it, and I do as well. It's just leaving that makes me so upset."

Puck nodded. "It fucking blows but at least we get to see her. We'll see her again soon. Less than six months."

"I guess it gives us something to look forward to. It just kills knowing that we could have her with us all of the time but we don't. I know it's my fault too because you did want her and I was the one that wanted to give her up. It makes me feel terrible. What kind of mother doesn't want their own daughter? What kind of mother just gives her away and didn't even want to see her ever again? I'm terrible!"

Quinn shrugged Puck's arm off of her and cried into her hands. She felt awful. Seeing Beth had made Quinn second guess everything. Had she given Beth up for adoption because it was the best thing for Beth... or had it been for selfish reasons? Quinn sighed. She felt incredibly foolish. She had been wasting months upon months worrying about being skinny, hot, and popular. She had been selfish and was going around trying to be a Queen Bee rather than being a better person. Her sobs were becoming heavier and her breathing was erratic. Her mind was racing with thoughts and regrets. She couldn't believe how she had forgotten all about her daughter but had filled her mind with such pointless things such as makeup and boyfriends.

Mike. She was suddenly reminded of her boyfriend that was furious at her. It had been at the forefront of her mind at the beginning of the day but now her priorities had shifted around drastically. The whole fight seemed completely pointless and she was sick of the drama. She had half a mind to call Mike up and break up with him on the spot for almost cheating on her, and then having the audacity to get mad at her for wanting to visit Beth with Puck. Her anger was bubbling up. Her hormones were out of balance.

Quinn actually found her self screaming at Puck. "Can you just say something?"

He looked surprised at her tone and shrugged. "You're not selfish and you fucking know it. You gave her up because she needed an adult to raise her and not two kids with shitty home lives. You know it. I know it. Don't beat yourself up over everything all the time."

Quinn couldn't believe how complacent he was with the whole situation. Here she was, crying her eyes out, and he was driving around cool, calm, and collected. It wasn't fair how he wasn't as upset as she was.

"Why aren't you crying," Quinn screamed at him, "Why am I the only one who feels terrible? Why am I the only one who feels guilty? Why are you so okay with everything?"

Puck slammed his hand on the steering wheel in frustration and pulled over to park at the curb. He turned to Quinn. "I'm fucking pissed that she isn't with us right now."

Quinn crossed her arms over her chest. "Then why aren't you showing it?"

"Because it doesn't matter," He yelled, trying to get the message through Quinn's skull, "It doesn't matter if I'm pissed or if I'm angry! She's still with Shelby, and we're still alone! We did this all for her. It sucks that she's not here but it's for the best."

Quinn nodded. "I know. I'm sorry I'm freaking out. I just miss her and seeing her is making me go insane. She looked happy though, right?"

Puck started driving once again now that Quinn was calmed down and not looking like she needed to breath through a paper bag. "She did. Did you still want to go out for dinner?"

Quinn took her cell phone out and looked at the time. It was 5:23. She also had a few new text messages. Most were unimportant fluff but she noticed that one was from Mike. She opened it quickly and saw that it read: _We need to talk. Let me know when you can._

Quinn shuddered. There were the words everyone hoped to never hear in a relationship. We need to talk. He had to be breaking up with her. There wasn't a way around it. No one ever said those words and then told their significant other how much they loved them. No, it always meant that the relationship was done. Quinn couldn't believe how childish and immature Mike was being about the whole situation. It wasn't like she had even done anything! She tried back to hold back her tears. After finally calming down about the Beth situation, she wasn't in the mood to start breaking down about Mike now. In any case, it made her answer to Puck's question incredibly easy.

"Yes," She told him, "But can we do it like far away? I just want to get away from Lima."

Quinn didn't know why she had said what she had. She had meant it as she was sick of being i t he town where her daughter was living with her new mother, her boyfriend was plotting to break up with her, and Santana was probably trying to figure out how to successfully put Nair in her shampoo without Quinn realizing. She had it with all of the drama and she really wanted to be separated from all of it. However, asking Puck to take her away was spontaneous. She hadn't meant to say it but it had slipped out. Honestly though, Quinn was glad that it had.

Puck nodded to her. "Yeah, whatever you want. But do you mean really far, or just the nest closest town far."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders, closed her eyes, and looked up at the ceiling of the car. "I don't care Puck. It just has to be anywhere that isn't Lima."

Puck got the message and knowing that gas money was expensive decided to just drive tot he next nearest town outside of Lima. That town being Wapakoneta. Always made fun of for its name, not many of Lima teenagers visited it so Puck knew they wouldn't risk running into any catty Cheerio's or douche bag football players.

The drive ride to Wapakoneta was filled with Quinn replying to text messages (but not Mike's of course) and laughing at Puck as he turned the radio up and sang along to the songs. When _Love the Way You Lie _came on, Quinn was in tears as Puck tired to rap along to it.

"There's only one white rapper in the business for a reason Puck." She teased.

He turned the volume down on the radio a notch and said, "Very funny. But uh... where are we even going to eat? I don't stop in Wapakoneta much."

Quinn finished replying to a text message from Mercedes telling her that Beth was positively the most adorable thing in the world and focused her attention back on Puck's question. "Neither do I. Well, I used to. My dad would take me out to this diner when I was younger usually once a month here. They had the best burgers, but then I became a cheerleader and I was told i couldn't gain an ounce so the hamburger trips were cut off."

Puck looked out the side window to see only a Bob Evans and a Taco Bell. "Any idea where the hell it is?"

Quinn nodded and pointed in front of her. "Straight ahead. It's only a couple mintues up from the Taco Bell I remember. I once asked my dad if we could get tacos afterwards and he actually let me. It was kind of a huge deal because he thought that diner food and fast food was beneath us."

They continued driving until Quinn saw the diner that she had visited so often with her father a long time ago. Puck pulled into the parking lot and they exited the car. Once they entered the restaurant Quinn told him that they had to sit down and then they would be served. The pair picked out a seat closer to the back of the diner, next to the window. Menus were placed on the table but Quinn didn't open hers.

"I'm not even going to take a peek," She told Puck, "I can't be tempted with anything else other than the Home Burger. It seriously is the most amazing thing I've ever eaten."

Puck closed his menu as well. "Fine. Then I'll just have it as well. Maybe we could make it a classic fifties night. Fries and milkshakes as well?"

Quinn made a face. "I just made it back up to the top of the pyramid. I have to make sure that the girls are able to lift me."

Puck rolled his eyes. "You're fucking skinnier than pretty much all of those chicks. You can handle a freaking milkshake."

Quinn bit her lip, not sure on what she should do. It would be her first food splurge in forever, and she didn't think she would automatically gain a whole bunch of weight from one splurge, but she was afraid that it would somehow lead her into a addiction to eating junk food. However, she wanted to have a good time with Puck and she felt like she deserved a treat after all the crying she had done, and the impending doom of Mike breaking up with her, so she finally smiled and nodded her head.

"Fine," She told Puck with a giggle, "I'll get the milkshake and the fries as well. But it has to be a strawberry shake. Those are amazing."

When their waitress came to take their order Puck told her that they wanted two Home burgers, two orders of fries, and Chocolate and a Strawberry Shake. After the waitress left the conversation instantly and randomly turned more serious.

"How are you and Mike doing?" Puck asked her casually, not realizing how terrible the relationship was at the moment. He hadn't meant to bring up something that was going so terribly for Quinn, but without realizing it he had.

Quinn awkwardly smiled and looked out of the window. "Not the best right now."

Puck played with the napkin dispenser at the table, taking one out, ripping it into little pieces, and scrunching the pieces into little balls. "What happened? You two were all over each other at New Year's."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "He was grinding with some slut that night and he lied to me about it... but _he's_ mad at _me_ because I was going to come see Beth with you today. He's a hypocrite."

Puck looked at her weirdly. Quinn raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing... but if he's a douche bag then why are you with him?"

Quinn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't necessarily want to have this conversation with her ex boyfriend, but she knew that she needed to vent her frustrations out. "He's not usually like that. He's usually so nice, and funny, and really sweet. He used to always be the best boyfriend ever. We like never fight but he was just so angry and then he didn't want to talk to me. I don't even know why he was so mad when he was the one doing something way worse. I think he's going to break up with me."

Puck was now focusing on the conversation intently. He leaned in closer across the table and his eyes were all on Quinn. He had stopped playing with the napkins. Quinn's conversation was now capturing his attention. "Why?" He asked.

Quinn held back tears but couldn't manage to hold back a sniffle. "We haven't talked since New Year's and he sent me a text today saying we need to talk. No one says that and then doesn't break up with the person."

Puck nodded but leaned back and crossed his arms behind his back, across the back of his head. "So he's an asshole. Just break up with him right now in a text message. Problem solved."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "It's not that simple Puck! What if he isn't breaking up with me? What if somehow he wants to apologize? Then I'd just be ruining everything for nothing!"

Quinn didn't honestly believe that Mike was going to apologize for his actions, but she did think that there was maybe a five percent chance that he would. She didn't want to risk a healthy relationship that was increasing her popularity when it wasn't in any danger. Plus, she liked Mike a lot and honestly didn't want to lose him. She was hoping badly that the five percent chance was actually the truth and she was simply being paranoid thinking that Mike was going to dump her.

However, Puck was thinking the opposite. "If the guy said that he needed to talk it meant that he needed to break up with you. Beat him to it."

Quinn bit her lip. She was starting to wonder if Puck was giving her solid advice or if he was somehow biased because of the history between the two of them. She silently pondered the thought if Puck somehow wanted to get back together with her. After all, they had just finished seeing the daughter they had together and that might have led to old feelings resurfacing. Quinn would be lying if she said that her mind hadn't drifted off to the happier times they had together during the summer.

"I can't. I just... why don't we talk about your love life actually? What's going on there?"

Puck smirked at her and she got the message he was trying to send to her. She waved her comment off. "Maybe it's better if you _don't _answer that question."

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just hooking up, and refusing to be tamed along with that Miley chick."

"Hooking up is overrated," Quinn muttered, "Don't you ever just want to stick to one girl?"

Puck opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when their waitress came to deliver their meals. The conversation was lost as the two teenagers dug into their hamburgers. Puck devoured his faster than Quinn imagined was possible.

"You're right," He told her, "These are the best hamburgers ever."

Quinn smiled. "I told you. They're amazing. I kind of always dreamed that when I was older that I would be living somewhere fabulous like L.A. or New York City, but that I would always come back here with my husband and kid when we visited my parents, and we'd have hamburgers right here. Now it's just stupid."

Puck raised his eyebrow and took a bite out of a fry. "Why?"

Quinn took a sip of her milkshake. "Lots of reasons. My parents are divorced, I'm never going to get out of Lima, and I'll always feel guilty about giving Beth up. Plus lots more. It just isn't in the cards for me to be able to move somewhere cool anymore."

Puck looked deeply into Quinn's eyes. "You can go wherever you want to. You will. You're fucking smart as shit. And, seriously stop it with the guilt trip. Beth is good with Shelby."

Quinn chuckled and Puck met her with a facial reaction asking her to expand on why she was laughing. "It's just funny," She explained, "I was the one always trying to make you feel better about giving her up. Now you're the one trying to make me feel good. It actually sucks. I'm sorry. It's just seeing her and then having to leave is terrible. By tomorrow I'm sure I'll be back to thinking that it was for the best."

Quinn hoped that she would at least. She had been worried that this sort of situation would happen when she had set up the meeting with Shelby and now her worst fears were coming true. She knew that Beth was having a much better life than she would have had with Puck and Quinn but it was still hard to go over the same questions in her head that she had when she was pregnant. The guilt was coming back to her, and although she knew that ultimately it had been the right decision, Quinn still wondered what life would be like if she had kept Beth and raised her with Puck.

Quinn decided to vocalize some of the thoughts bubbling in her head. "Do you think we'd still be together if Beth was with us?"

Puck stopped sipping on his milkshake, and pondered her question for a second. He casually, as to not make it sound like he had been pondering the same question in his head for months, told Quinn, "Probably... but only cause like fights and shit don't seem so important when there's a kid. We wouldn't have broken up over a stupid argument if Beth was in the backseat."

Quinn nodded. "That fight was pretty stupid and like, I'm sorry for being so overdramatic with it."

Puck smiled genuinely at Quinn, thankful for her apology. He sheepishly looked down at his meal. "Yeah, me too. I was an idiot. You were just trying to get over it all and I wasn't helping with wanting to see Beth all the time."

Quinn was grateful for Puck apologizing. He wasn't the type to offer up apologies and it meant a lot when actually did say that he was sorry. For that reason alone Quinn knew that Puck meant it and was actually sorry for the way he had acted. She was so happy that they were letting themselves come clean with each other and that the drama between the two was melting away.

Maybe if Mike was going to break up with her, things wouldn't end up so badly. Maybe Puck would want a real relationship with her. Maybe she could be happy with the first and only person she had ever loved. _No! _Quinn told herself. She couldn't be thinking those types of thoughts. She didn't even know if Mike was going to dump her and she was already planning on running off with Puck. Plus, she still liked Mike! Sure, their relationship was nothing like the one she had with Puck. It wasn't as passionate or filled with as much raw emotion, but Mike was a good guy and he made her laugh. Their fight had been pointless and besides that drama the relationship had been simple. She shouldn't be questioning things, and she definitely shouldn't be considering going out with Puck again. She had to remind herself that he only brought her hurt and heartbreak. Still, it was hard to be mad at a guy who was so good looking even when he was digging into a hamburger.

Quinn couldn't help but be attracted to him. He was muscular, his eyes were a deep brown that hypnotized her, his face could match any soap opera star's, and he had the whole bad boy image that sent Quinn over the edge. Then there was the added chemistry between them, not to mention the history. Still, she had to think with her head rather than her heart. And above all else, she was still in a relationship with Mike. She could not be thinking these thoughts when she still had a boyfriend. She had already cheated on one boyfriend. She couldn't start making it a tradition.

"I'm sorry I was a dick when we came back to school and everything as well," Puck told her, "It sucked cause you were dating Mike and I was just sleeping with random chicks. It felt like you were winning."

Quinn shook her head. "No it felt like you were winning egghead!"

The two laughed and Puck gave her that specific smug smirk that he had done once before while she had been baking. "I'm not an egghead."

Quinn giggled. "I'm sorry but you are. Would you rather me call you that or your Good Vibrations alter ego - Pucky Puck was it?"

Puck, never one to be embarrassed, acted proud of the nickname he had given himself during the rap with Finn and Mercedes. "Let's get out of here." He whispered and Quinn automatically, without thinking, nodded.

The pair walked up to the counter where Puck, even though Quinn insisted otherwise, paid for both of their meals. They then walked outside of the diner to Puck's truck. Puck walked Quinn to the passenger side of the car and Quinn was puzzled. Puck was not exactly a gentleman and he had never opened the car door for her. However, that wasn't his plan at all. Instead of opening the door for Quinn, Puck stood in front of her, with her back towards the car, and put one arm on the car so that her right side was blocked. He then leaned in closer to Quinn and her heart started racing. Her mind was getting dizzy and she knew that she should stop it. However he was getting closer and closer towards her and finally she felt his lips on hers. That was the moment her mind started thinking clearly and just as fast as his lips were on hers, Quinn was pushing him away.

"No," She whispered, "This isn't right."

Puck sighed, looked down at his feet, but then looked back at Quinn, almost as if he were angry. "Why the fuck not?"

Quinn looked up at Puck with eyes full of sadness. She always found herself in the trickiest of situations. "Because Puck... if we do this then you're just going to go back to all of the other girls tomorrow. This doesn't mean anything to you."

Puck contemplated what Quinn was saying. He then nodded his head. "Maybe that's true, but don't lie right now and say that if we do this and tomorrow you talk to Mike and he doesn't want to break up, just don't act like you would break up with him. You'd stay with him."

Quinn looked to the side, not wanting to meet Puck's eyes. She hated how he was right. "How can you be so sure?"

Puck laughed and Quinn hated him for it. "Because," He told her, "You play it safe all the fucking time. Telling everyone that Finn was the father, and now this. You're always going to go with what's easiest for you and now what you actually want."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "You want to bet?"

Puck was taken aback and couldn't speak for a moment. He then regained himself and nodded, trying to be his smug self again. Quinn smiled, leaned in, and then kissed Puck square on the mouth. They became entangled in each other's embrace. Puck pushed Quinn further back so that she was leaning against the car. Quinn was so thankful that they weren't in Lima so there wasn't a risk that they would see someone that they would know.

Quinn let go of all her inhibitions and forgot all about what she "should be doing" and gave into what she wanted to be doing. The kiss deepened until Quinn realized that even though they weren't people she knew, people were still looking at the public display of affection going on and she was uncomfortable with that. So she broke away from the kiss, smiled at Puck and told him she didn't want it to be a one time thing.

"I want to start again," She told him, "For real this time. No more mistakes or stupidity. Just you and me trying to make this work."

Puck nodded his head and brushed her hair out of her face. "Me too. I don't want to be stupid anymore. So you'll end things with Mike?"

Quinn kept holding on to Puck's arm as she said, "I have a feeling that he's planning on breaking up with me anyways so I'll just let him have the pride of saying he was the dumper. Then we can be together."

Puck smiled and tried to lean in for another kiss but Quinn put her hand on his chest to stop him. "Until then... we can't do anything. I'm not cheating on him anymore. No more kisses until I'm single."

Puck smirked. "There's going to be a lot more than kisses when you're single."

The pair then drove off back to Lima, both completely content with the prospect of being together once again. Quinn almost didn't remember the pain and anguish she had felt only hours earlier when she had to leave Beth. Life was good. Life was great.

_Author's Note: (Please Read =D)_

_ So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter but first off I have to apologize for the ridiculous wait! I am so terribly sorry but I was hit with a massive dose of writer's block combined with a hugely busy schedule and things just didn't get done as fast as I wanted! I also didn't make this chapter as long as I wanted but I hoped to get a new one out as soon as possible!_

_ Thank you so much though to everyone who is reading this story, leaving reviews, or setting the story or me to their alerts/favourites! It means so much and I appreciate it so much! Every time I get a new review or someone sets it to their alerts I get so happy!_

_ Now this chapter ended with Puck and Quinn being happy but we all know that things can't stay that way right? No, there must be some angst thrown in there and it will swiftly come up in the next chapter! So that's something to look forward to!_

_ Writers take great time and energy to create and write their stories so if you have the time I would very much appreciate if you could leave a review. It could be a word, a sentence, or even a paragraph! Any comments or suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated! They also work as great motivators!_

_ I will try to write the next chapter quickly and I once again hope that this chapter was enjoyed by all!_

_ Until next time,_

_ Happy Reading! =)_


	6. Please Don't Leave Me

The morning after Quinn texted Mike back as soon as she woke up. She told him that she could meet up with him later on that day in the afternoon. Now that she was looking forward to being with Puck again, Quinn wanted to be over with Mike as soon as possible. It wasn't that she didn't like him. Mike had been a perfectly fine boyfriend. He had been good to her and he had helped her become who she wanted to be. She was now popular and envied by every girl in the school, and every boy seemed to want to hook up with her. Quinn knew that Mike had been more than a popularity boost though, no matter how much she protested the fact. She really had found herself caring deeply for the boy. He was nice, funny, cute, and sweet. She had fun with him and she didn't regret having him be the second boy she had sex with. In the end though she always realized that things weren't going to last between the two. Even if things were to continue their expiration date would be approaching. High school couples rarely last long and it had already been close to four months. Quinn would have been surprised if they had kept things together for longer than another two or three months. They were good together, but they didn't have the spark that was needed for a relationship to really work. They didn't have the spark that Quinn always experienced when she was around Puck.

She felt bad that after Mike was to break up with her she would immediately run to Puck and start dating him. She didn't want to see Mike hurt, or even feel like his ego had been bruised. Quinn had thought of perhaps secretly being with Puck for a little bit until her and Mike's break up was far away in the past. She recognized that it wouldn't be possible quickly. She might have been able to convince Puck to keep things on the down low for a week, but anymore and she was certain that he would be pissed. Quinn could remember how much he hated Quinn sneaking around and hiding the fact that he was the father when she was pregnant with Beth, so she grasped the fact that Puck wouldn't be particularly pleased with hiding their relationship. On the other hand, she was allowing Mike to be the one to break things off. Even though it had the potential to do serious harm to her reputation, Quinn was content with being dumped. Mike would get accolades for breaking up with the resident ice queen, whereas Quinn would be embarrassed that she had been dumped by someone lower on the popularity scale than her. It seemed like a fair deal once Quinn thought about it. Mike would break up with her, and then Quinn would not feel guilt about running to Puck and starting a relationship up with him again. Things would be fine.

It had been hard not to kiss Puck again the night before. Especially at the end of the night. Quinn had wanted to leap from her seat in the car and begin a wild make out session with the boy but she had contained herself. She couldn't cheat on Mike anymore than she already had. An impromptu kiss was one thing, but being well aware and prepared while making out was another. Still, it had taken Quinn a lot of willpower to compose herself. She had said goodbye to Puck with only a wave and a pat on the shoulder when he dropped her off at her house. No kisses, no making out, and definitely no inviting him inside of her house.

Quinn had to unfortunately text Mercedes and ask her if they could reschedule their girl's day to the Wednesday. She knew that her friend would most likely blow a fuse and blame it all on Quinn choosing her boyfriend and other friends over her, but she really needed to spend the day doing other things. Quinn made sure to tell her that it was majorly important and she would tell her all about it the following day. Surprisingly, Mercedes didn't send her a hate-filled text, but rather a polite response telling her that it was fine, as long as she was paying for lunch now. Quinn giggled and told Mercedes that it would be her pleasure and thanked her friend for being so understanding.

Mike texted her back to meet him at his house at one o' clock. The text perplexed Quinn. She hadn't dumped a huge number of boys, but she had rejected quite a few and she knew that it was a huge no-no to invite the person you were going to break up with over to your house. It was awkward, and uncomfortable to do so. She had no idea why Mike was doing so, but she just chalked it up to the fact that he hadn't dumped many girls before and was a rookie at it. Mai had been his only real girlfriend before Quinn and they had been so off and on that Quinn thought that all normal rules of dating had been thrown out the window with the two of them. Be that as it may, Quinn replied to Mike telling him that she would be there. She felt weird responding to Mike as they planned out the specifics of when and where he would dump her but she just kept telling herself that he needed to break up with her in any way he felt fit. It was the only way she would be able to date Puck and not seem like a total bitch.

It was already approaching eleven o' clock so Quinn decided to start getting ready for her moment of rejection. She straightened her hair, applied her make up, put on a simple dress with tights and a cardigan, and then went downstairs to have something to eat. Ms. Fabray was in the kitchen at the same time. She smiled at Quinn.

"How did the meeting with Beth and Shelby go yesterday," She asked, this being the first time she had seen Quinn since Puck had dropped her off, "Was she precious? Does she look like you?"

Quinn giggled at how animated her mother was being. Even if her mother had gone along with her father when he had kicked her out of the house, Quinn always thought that her mother may not have minded a baby around the house so much. "She was really cute. Her hair's growing pretty long... for a six month year old at least, and she giggles and smiles at almost everything. I got a lot of pictures. You can look at my camera once I go out, I left it on the living room table when I came in last night."

Quinn's mom clutched her heart and ran into the living room to fetch the camera, too anxious to wait until her daughter had left the house. She came back as she was turning the camera on and looking at the first picture of Puck pulling little Beth in the sled.

"She looks like you so much Quinnie... but she has her father's nose, that's for sure. It seems like you two managed to get along well enough."

Quinn raised an eyebrow at her mothers comment. "Why wouldn't we?"

Ms. Fabray looked up from the camera and waved away Quinn's question with her hand. "Oh you know what I mean dear," Her mother told her as she shrugged her shoulders, "You two just are always so touch and go. One second you get along perfectly fine, almost as if you're a couple even though you swear up and down to me that it's not true, and then the next minute you're screaming at each other and slamming doors. It's just nice that you put your stubbornness aside for a day so you could see your daughter."

Quinn had to admit her mother was right. Puck and herself didn't have the best track record for always getting along. It always depended on the mood they were in, or what they had found out about the other. They both were stubborn, selfish, and easily angered. Quinn began to worry that maybe she was making a huge mistake. Maybe getting back together with Puck was a terrible decision. What if everything worked out for a while and then they became their explosive selves once again? Perhaps Quinn should beg Mike to take her back. It might be the better decision to stick with the safe guy than the risky guy. Quinn bit her lip in confusion and then tried to shake her doubts away. She had made her decision. She wanted to be back with Puck. He made her feel something she felt with no other person. They were fiery people but in a strange way they belonged together. Neither was afraid to call the other one out on their bull shit, and they both felt comfortable around each other to let their walls come down. He was right for her. Even though they had gone through a teenage pregnancy, she was a bitch, and he was a man whore, Quinn saw their relationship as being more than any of the other high school relationships she had seen in the hallways. They'd been through so much but that was particularly why she saw it as so much more. Other relationships would have fizzled and broken down with half of the shit that had come their way, but Puck and Quinn always seemed to find a way back to each other.

At that moment, Quinn's cell phone started ringing so she stepped out of the room to answer it. She saw that the caller I.D. said Puck was the one on the other line and she didn't want her mother to overhear their conversation.

"Hey you." She softly breathed out, still happy with the new prospect of being with this boy in only a matter of hours.

"You and Mike had sex." He didn't phrase it as a question, but as a comment. He somehow had figured it out and he was angry about it. His tone and been quick and harsh. Quinn was perplexed. How was Puck angry at her for that?

Quinn went on the defensive. "He was my _boyfriend_ Puck... and he still is. I'm meeting up with him at one."

Puck wasn't ready to give up so easily. "You didn't tell me that you two were sleeping together. It makes things... different."

Quinn hoped that he wasn't saying what she thought he was saying. Especially not after she had convinced herself that he was the right person for her. "So now you don't want to be with me?"

Puck was quick to reply. "No, I do. But I want to kill him. He's an idiot. I hate him. He doesn't deserve you. He never did."

Quinn giggled. "You're jealous Puck." She teased.

"Damn right I am," He told her, "I thought I was the only - I mean, I just didn't know you guys were fucking."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Don't say it like that. Plus, it's not like I'm asking you how many girls you slept with since we've been apart."

She heard a gulp on the other end of the line, followed by empty silence. She smiled in satisfaction. "Exactly. My number is one. I don't even want to know how many people _you _slept with. So stop fixating on this. How did you even find out?"

"Matt," Puck offered, "It just makes me mad. And I know it shouldn't... but it does."

Quinn rolled her eyes yet again and looked at the clock on the TV. It was nearing twelve o' clock and she needed to finish getting ready. "Well you're going to have to get over it. You slept with a bunch of girls and I slept with my boyfriend... and it was only two times so it wasn't even close to your count at all. Get over it and move on. Otherwise we're just not going to work out."

Puck finally agreed and Quinn hung up the phone. She had enough drama to worry about that day, what with going to be dumped and all, and she didn't need Puck coming down with a jealous rage just because he had found something out that in all honesty most people had already assumed.

Quinn finished primping and made her way to her car. Her theory was to look her best for when Mike was to break up with her. It would just show him what he was going to miss out on, even if she didn't necessarily want him to miss anything. Still, it had been a trick she had been using forever and she wasn't just going to start breaking habits. Quinn drove to Mike's house and felt a strange combination of feelings. On the one hand she was anxious for it all to be over with. She didn't want to be held back anymore and she simply want to be with Puck. However she was also hesitant. Mike was so fun to be around and he was one of Quinn's only true friends. Without dating Quinn didn't know if he would still want to associate with her and she would truthfully miss spending time with him. She would also miss kissing him and all the other fun things that it felt like they had just started doing, but Puck was a more than excellent replacement. It wasn't that he was better than Mike or Mike was better than Puck. They were just completely different people and when it came down to it, Quinn wanted to be with Puck more than she wanted to be with Mike.

She parked her car by the street by Mike's house and made her way out of the car and took the long walk up to the front door. It felt like it had taken Quinn hours to reach the door, when in actuality it had taken less than a minute. She rang the doorbell and braced herself for Mike to come out, yell at her, and slam the door in her face. Her life would then change and she had no idea if it would be for the better anymore.

Mike opened up the door and smiled at Quinn and invited her inside.. She gave him a confused look when his back was to her. Why was he being so nice when he was supposed to be breaking up with her? This was either the weirdest or the friendliest break up in the history of the world.

He led her to his bedroom as it was their best bet of not being interrupted by his mother or sister who were also home. Mike sat on the end of his bed while Quinn decided to sit on the chair by his desk facing towards him. She hadn't been sure if she should remain standing, but she deemed it too aggressive of a stance. She shifted in the chair for a moment before finally gaining the courage to say, "So.. you have something to talk to me about."

In any other situation she wouldn't have brought it up, but this situation was different than any other she had been in before. Plus, she was so awkward that the only thing that came to mind was asking him what the text message was about. She waited for his response. He seemed to be thinking of what to say, or how to phrase it.

"I was wrong, and I'm sorry," Mike told Quinn as her mouth fell open in shock, "I shouldn't have been dancing with Olivia. It was stupid. And I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for the Puck thing. I was just being jealous. I'm sorry."

Quinn sat there with her mouth open, contemplating everything. He was apologizing to her. Mike was supposed to be berating her and telling her how he never wanted to talk to her again. She wasn't prepared for this. What was she supposed to do now? Tell him that she forgave him but she had to break up with him to be with Puck? She couldn't, but she couldn't stay with him when she had already made promises to Puck. Why couldn't he have just broken up with her?

"It's okay." Quinn managed to mutter out. She wanted to say more but she couldn't think of anything else to say, and she had a sneaking suspicion that whatever she could think of to say wouldn't make it past her lips.

Mike took Quinn's quick statement as a good enough sign to move on with the conversation. "I made a big deal out of nothing. I'm sorry, but I still want to be your boyfriend. I want you to be my girlfriend. The fight was shitty but I promise that nothing else will happen like that. I want to go back to the way things were. We can forget about the crap and just move on. But there's one tricky part..."

His voice trailed off and Quinn took notice. She desperately hoped that in someway this tricky part would end up in a break up. It was a terrible thought but it was what Quinn was banking on for life to finally go the way she wanted. "What is it?"

Mike pouted as he looked glum and Quinn's heart thudded with the guilt that she had cheated on this sweet boy just hours ago. "My grandmother died yesterday. My family has to go to China to take care of matters or something like that. We were the closest ones to her. Anyways we're leaving tomorrow and we're going to be gone for two weeks. I feel like an asshole apologizing and then leaving but I have to do it."

Quinn felt her stomach drop. Her whole plan was falling apart. She no longer had any options. First Mike wasn't breaking up with her, and now it was evident that she couldn't even be the one to break up with him. Only a cold-hearted bitch could break up with someone who had a grandparent pass away the day before. She didn't want to be mad with Mike as she understood it wasn't his fault at all, but she was starting to feel trapped in her situation which made Quinn very agitated.

"I'm sorry about your grandmother. I really am. I've only lost one grandparent, but I was really little when it happened so I don't remember. It must suck really bad though, so I'm really sorry." Quinn knew it wasn't what she should be saying. She should be talking things through with Mike, but she was too afraid for that, and in any case it was right to offer condolences when someone passes away and Quinn really was sorry about Mike's loss.

Mike nodded and smiled at Quinn, thanking her for her sentiments. He then sighed and asked, "So are we good? Are we still together? Even if I have to leave for a couple weeks?"

What was Quinn supposed to say? She clearly had no other options but to stay with Mike. At least for a few more weeks. She was painfully aware how pissed off Puck would be at her for not having the balls to tell him the truth but she couldn't be as ruthless as him. She worried about those who she cared about, and Mike had become a really good friend _and_ boyfriend to her. She cared for him genuinely and didn't want immense amounts of pain being thrown at him all at once.

So Quinn felt she had no other choice but to nod her head, smile, and walk over to Mike to give him a big hug. She felt him kiss the top of her head. "I'm sorry too," Quinn whispered, "I have to learn to be more honest with you." She was glad that she wasn't lying as it was the truth that Quinn needed to learn how to be more sincere with Mike. For instance, she should be able to tell him that she wanted to get back together with Puck, but she wasn't that brave yet.

Mike sat back on his bed and Quinn sat beside him this time on the bed as well, with her legs crossed. Mike tried to make conversation. "How was Beth? That was yesterday, right?"

Quinn nodded and immediately perked up. Talking about Beth seemed to have that effect on her. "It was amazing. She's so cute and it was so nice to just see her playing and giggling. She looks so much like Puck. Ugh, I should have brought a picture or something to show you." Quinn didn't know where it was coming from, but she found herself transforming into one of those uber proud soccer moms, and her kid wasn't even in preschool yet!

Mike laughed and took Quinn's hand to hold. She felt awkward holding his hand whereas before the Puck kiss she would have found it comforting. "What else have you been up to lately?" He asked.

Quinn tried to think of something to tell Mike that wouldn't be suspicious. However, she had never been amazing at thinking on her feet. When she lied she always prepared for it ahead of time, crafting the fib until it was perfect and she could get away with it without a trace. This was much different as she was caught off guard. She had expected to be dumped and dismissed, not having him ask about her recent activities such as sucking face with her ex boyfriend.

"N- Not much," Quinn stuttered, trying to play it cool, "Besides seeing Beth I've just been hanging out. But... can we talk a little later maybe? I have a lot of errands to run today."

Mike nodded in agreement, not recognizing that anything was wrong. He didn't understand that Quinn needed time to think about what had just happened. He didn't realize that she needed to determine what her best move of action was. He didn't know that she actually had to debate whether she should lead him on more and stay with him, all the while wanting to be with Puck. He certainly didn't see that she had to call that boy to see what his thoughts on the matter were. No, Mike was oblivious and simply overjoyed to have his girlfriend back. He would believe anything she told him because in his mind they were starting anew and he was trusting her fully to put as much effort into the relationship as he was.

"Do you want to hang out tonight?" He asked.

Quinn thought about it. Though she had originally planned on calling Puck up and inviting him over to celebrate her first night of being single she knew that it couldn't be the case tonight. Either way, if she decided to stay with Mike or break up with him, she would have to see him that night. She would have to talk to him so she could dump him, or she would have to see him to keep up with the appearance of being back to normal and adoring each other.

"Yeah, you can come over to my house. Around eight o' clock?" Quinn tried not to put too much excitement or exclamation in her voice. She didn't want Mike to think that she was thrilled with being with him still if in the end she was going to break up with him.

Either way, Mike seemed to be delighted and smiled as he told her that it sounded like a great plan. He then walked her out to her car and told her to try and have a good time running errands. He leaned in for a kiss, and Quinn gave him a quick peck on the lips. Her mission was not to lead him on _at all_ in case she ended up not wanting to play out their relationship any further. Quinn then drove home and ran up to her room so she could call Puck and discuss things with him. Luckily her mother was out surveying the construction being done on the dance studio so Quinn had complete privacy in her house.

The phone rang once... twice... three times and then Puck picked up.

"Hey babe." He introduced, and Quinn could sense the smirk forming on his face from the other line.

"I don't think I can break up with Mike." Quinn said, and she immediately slapped herself. Those were not the words she wanted to use at all. It had come out all wrong, but she had been nervous and had said the first thing to come to her head. She knew how it must have sounded to Puck however and realized that major damage control was coming her way.

There was a moment of silence on the other line before Puck replied, "Can't say I didn't call it."

Quinn shook her head even though she knew that Puck couldn't see her at the moment. "No - it isn't like that Puck! I want to break up with him, but I don't think I can. I went over to his house today and I thought he was going to dump me but eh didn't... he apologized for everything-"

Quinn was then interrupted. "So I was just some safety net? In case he broke up with you, I was there to be your new boyfriend? Now that he hasn't you have no fucking use for me or some shit? That's messed up Quinn."

"Let me finish," Quinn cried, "I still want to break up with him! I do but he apologized and then said that his grandmother died and he's going to China tomorrow or two weeks with his family to sort things out. I can't break up with him when he's going through all of that."

Quinn heard Puck sigh on the line. "So you want to wait two weeks until he comes back to dump him?"

Quinn bit her lip. She was really making this up as it went along, and hadn't though things through fully. "That seems too harsh to do it the minute he gets back. Couldn't we wait three or four weeks? I just don't want to throw everything at him at once."

"Bull shit," It was obvious that Puck hadn't taken to her suggestion as well as she hoped he would, "You're just scared Quinn. You want to wait a whole freaking month to date? What am I supposed to do, just sit back twiddling my thumbs waiting for you to be single? Do you even want to do this anymore?"

Quinn was quick with her answer. "I do! So much Puck, but I can't dump him when he's all put out about his grandmother! Can you please be reasonable? One week after he comes back I'll break up with him, I promise. That's only three weeks, can't you wait that long?"

"I don't want to be sitting around with blue balls while you have sex with him Quinn! How does that seem fair?"

Quinn put a hand over her head, tired of arguing with Puck. "I'm not going to have sex with him! I'll have to kiss him probably, but I'll keep that on a minimum. And I guess if you want you could spend time with other girls while we're waiting. Just not anything serious or anything to do with Santana."

"I don't want to be with other girls," Puck screamed, "For the first fucking time I just want to be with one! But I don't want to look like a chump waiting for weeks while you have a fucking boyfriend!"

Quinn slumped onto her bed, aggravated by how terrible the conversation was going, but also slightly pleased by Puck's revelation that he only wanted to be with her.

She made her voice soft and soothing, attempting to calm him down a tad with the whole situation. "It's only three weeks. Then we can be together. I promise. It will all be worth it."

There was silence on the other line for a moment. Quinn figured that Puck was contemplating everything, which was a good sign as it meant he was actually considering waiting around for her for three weeks. That was something she really never expected out of him.

"Fine," Puck finally responded, "Three weeks. You promise you don't want to be with him right now?

Quinn smirked. Just as she had needed to hear that she wasn't fat the day she had become pregnant, she figured that Puck needed to hear something from her at this moment. Luckily she knew what he needed to be reassured of. "I want to be with you Puck." She said almost in a whisper, but it seemed to do the trick. Puck replied, "Good, but... when he's in China are we allowed to fool around even a little bit?"

Quinn laid down on her bed. She knew that she wanted to be with Puck for the next two weeks but it wasn't fair to Mike. She couldn't plan their breakup so she could be with someone else and then cheat on him constantly for two weeks with that someone else. "No... it's too risky. If he found out, he'd be so upset and I don't want to hurt him. He's a good guy. Plus, I don't want to be known as some girl that cheats on every single one of her boyfriends."

"What," Puck breathed out, "You cheated on me in the summer?"

Quinn giggled. "No, never," Quinn's tone then became serious and pensive, "But it seems like I'm always cheating on boys _with _you."

"Yeah you do." Puck said smugly and Quinn wanted to equally both slap him in the face, laugh, and kiss him because of that comment.

"I have to go," Quinn told the loveable tool, "I need to do some things and then Mike is coming over later tonight."

Quinn realized she probably shouldn't have mentioned anything about hanging out with Mike later. She was already asking a lot out of Puck, and making him jealous with the mention of what seemed like a date with Mike was pushing things. She didn't have to do damage control however as Puck quickly responded, "I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear that." The pair then both hung up the phone.

Quinn was so frustrated about her whole situation. She would now have to wait three weeks to be with the man she wanted as she lead a sweet boy on that didn't deserve it. She considered the possibility that maybe it was better if she was truthful with Mike and told him that she wanted to end things before he left for China but ultimately decided otherwise. She simply didn't want to leave him with the pain of his grandmother passing away and on top of that, his girlfriend breaking up with him.

That night Quinn waited around in the living room for Mike to arrive. Ms. Fabray was out on what Quinn presumed to be a date but she wasn't going to badger her mother for answers until she was ready to tell her. Her mother had been more distant however, though Quinn had previously chalked it up to the pressure of starting her dance studio up, but she now suspected that it may also be due to the fact that she could have a new boyfriend. Quinn thought that her mother deserved to have a man that treated her well, every woman did, but she didn't want her to start pushing her daughter aside like she had done when she was still married to Quinn's father.

The doorbell rang and Quinn walked over to answer it. Before opening the door she took a look in the mirror at smoothed out her hair. She then opened up the door and put on her best photo ready face, complete with smile and bright eyes, to welcome her boyfriend. However, she was not expecting to see Mike in the condition that he was in. Her smile quickly faded and she took a step back.

"What the hell happened?" She asked. What she was looking at was Mike with a huge black eye. His eye was swollen and terribly bruised.

Mike tried to act like it wasn't a big deal and shrugged it off. "Nothing major. It looks worse than what it was. Can I come in to talk about it?"

Quinn nodded and stood aside to let Mike walk into the house. She instructed him to go up to her room and she would get some ice to put on his eye. He tried to tell her that it wasn't so bad but she wasn't buying it. Mike relented and walked up the stairs to Quinn's bedroom while Quinn went into the freezer to get an icepack and wrapped it up in a cloth. She then walked upstairs and saw Mike sitting on the edge of her bed. She sat beside him and softly put the wrapped up ice over his eye.

"It's cold." He noted and Quinn rolled her eyes. "It's ice, it's meant to be cold. Don't be a wuss. You can't afford to have a black eye _and_ be a wuss."

Mike smirked. "Well you should see the _other _guy. His hand mostly. I tore that thing up."

Quinn giggled at Mike's self-deprecating comment but turned Mike's head to face hers. "Who was the other guy Mike?" She whispered.

Mike looked away from her for a moment, as if he was afraid to tell her. He then looked back into her eyes and told Quinn, "Puck... I think he's still in love with you."

Quinn was in shock. She had no idea why Puck would do such a thing. The last time they had talked they seemed to have come to an agreement on how they would proceed with their situation. He hadn't seemed too mad about everything and Quinn especially didn't understand how he was mad at Mike. Mike hadn't done anything to him. He was just a guy that liked a girl who liked someone else. Quinn wanted to scream at him, or punch him for being so mean but she had Mike to focus on at the moment. She had to convince him that Puck hadn't hit him for her or because of her.

"No," Quinn replied, "That can't be it. We've barely talked to each other. Are you sure you didn't do anything to him? Like steal his basketball jersey number or something stupid like that?"

Mike shook his head. "I haven't even talked to him much since we started going out. I don't know why the hell he would do it but he came to my house and sucker punched me when I answered the door. Then he got into his car and drove off."

Quinn sighed. Boys were so stupid and she didn't want to have any of this drama in her life. She wanted to be with Puck but he was making it so difficult. She didn't want to be with a jerk or someone that was insanely jealous. Puck was turning out to be that exact guy. She started to second guess herself. Mike was sweet. She had fun with Mike. Mike would never do something like punch another guy out for a stupid jealous reason. Quinn hated that she was always changing her mind with both of the boys.

"I'm sorry. He's probably jealous so this is all my fault." Quinn kissed Mike lightly on the cheek.

Mike took the ice in the cloth from Quinn's hand and put it on the dresser beside them. He held Quinn's hand. "It's not your fault that he's an asshole. Don't blame yourself for it."

Quinn smiled at him sweetly. Though a part of her wanted to defend Puck she did have to admit that what he had done _was _an asshole move.

Quinn fidgeted with her hands. "I still feel bad though. I don't want you two fighting over me. You guys used to be friends and now he's punching you in the face."

Mike shook his head. "Seriously, it's alright. Let him be jealous all he wants. It doesn't matter to me. You're still my girl... even _if _I can't feel my eye right now." Mike then leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. Quinn was caught off guard and didn't have anytime to stop the kiss from happening. She had been determined to keep the physical contact to a minimum so that Mike could at least see some sort of break up was imminent and he wouldn't be caught so off guard but she hadn't been able to react quick enough. Now she was left kissing him, or more him kissing her. Still, she felt bad about what had happened to Mike because she didn't have the guts to be honest, so she decided to let him kiss her. It would make him feel better and thus make her feel less guilty about accidentally getting him punched in the face.

Quinn kissed Mike back and tried to think of all the things she was going to scream at Puck the next chance she got. She wanted to call him stupid, a douche bag, an asshole, and so much more. He had been so immature and mean about something that she had thought they were on the same page about. Quinn's mind had drifted so far off from Mike that she hadn't even noticed when she was lying on her back with Mike's hand up her dress. She had no idea how she hadn't realized how far that they were getting but Quinn knew what Mike was expecting. He wanted sex and she knew that wasn't a good idea She was planning on breaking up with him in just three weeks so having sex didn't seem like a good thought at all. But she still felt so guilty about Puck punching him. Would it really be so bad if she gave in just once? It couldn't be terrible. It could make Mike forget about Puck and then she could be the sole one to lay down the law on the idiot. Plus, it just felt like something she should do. Her boyfriend was upset because of something she ha d inadvertently caused, and sex would make him happy once again. Would it really be so horrible?

Quinn made her decision and that night ended up being the first time Quinn had sex when she didn't want to. She forced herself into it so that Mike would be happy, not even thinking about the fact that she had no desire to sleep with him. Not that she wasn't attracted to him, or that she disliked him. She simply wasn't in the mood and she didn't feel it was right when she knew that she was going to break up with him in mere weeks. Still, Quinn did the deed and she couldn't take it back. Mike left her house shortly after. Quinn's mom had called and said that she was going to be home in a half an hour so Mike thought that it was his cue to leave. They said their goodbyes and Quinn told Mike to have a good trip in China. Once he had Quinn began to lay into herself.

"I'm an idiot," She whispered to herself, "A stupid, _stupid_, idiot! What am I doing? Kissing Puck then sleeping with Mike. This is all so wrong. But Puck was an idiot! Why did he have to punch Mike? It doesn't make any sense! Ugh, I hate this! I hate all of this stupid, pointless drama!"

Quinn felt a few tears fall out of her eyes which only further added to her frustration. "Great now I'm crying," She sneered, "I'm pathetic! Why the hell did I sleep with him... I'm too young to be pretending to want to have sex! This sucks, this sucks, this sucks!" Quinn was pacing around her room, trying to calm herself down. She wouldn't be seeing Mike for two weeks, which she thought made things easier. She would have time to process things, and a lot of time to talk to Puck. Speaking of Puck, she was still furious at him. She got that seeing her with Mike wasn't easy for him, but he had no right to punch him like he had done. Quinn wanted to yell at him, and she honestly couldn't control her anger any longer. She picked up her purse and walked outside to her car.

Quinn drove carefully to Puck's house, trying to plan out what to scream at him in her head. She wanted to tell him how he always seemed to want to screw things up between them. She wanted to beg him to just be mature for once so they could actually be a couple. She wanted to slap him across the face for what he had done to Mike, but most importantly, she wanted to hear his reasoning. She had a hard time accepting the fact that the boy she cared about so much was so hellbent on always destructing their tries at a relationship.

Quinn parked on the side of the street and walked up to the front door of the Puckerman household. It was reaching eleven o' clock and Quinn didn't want to wake up Puck's little sister, but she had to do this. She rang the doorbell and prayed to God that Mrs. Puckerman didn't answer the door. It had always been clear the disdain both women shared for each other. However, it was clear that today was not Quinn's lucky day and when the front door opened there was Puck's mom on the other side.

Mrs. Puckerman rolled her eyes when she saw Quinn standing in front of her. "What," She sarcastically asked, "Pregnant again?"

Quinn put a hand on her hip, kept her head up high, and tried to be respectful and the more mature person. "No, but I need to talk to your son."

Mrs. Puckerman sighed. "It's late and my daughter is asleep. I don't need you two screaming and yelling at each other."

Quinn looked Mrs. Puckerman in the eye and softly asked, "Please? Can you just tell him that I'm here? I really need to talk to him."

Puck's mother sighed, but relented. She walked inside of the house and a minute later the door opened again and Puck was now on the other side. His shirt was off and he was only wearing a pair of sweatpants. Quinn tried to control her urge to check out his impressive abs and focus solely on giving him a piece of his mind.

"Come outside and close the door," Quinn ordered, "I don't want to wake your little sister."

Puck nodded and closed the door behind him. He sat down on the step in front of the house and Quinn followed suit. She sighed. After wanting to come over to scream at the boy, she simply didn't have the energy anymore. Instead she whispered, "You can't hit Mike."

Puck nodded. "I know."

"You were an asshole."

"I know."

"I'm still with him."

"I know."

"He didn't do anything wrong."

"I know."

Quinn now felt like she wanted to scream. Puck was too frustrating. "Say something else rather I know!" She cried as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't plan it or anything. I was just mad. First I find out that you guys had been sleeping together and then you wanted me to wait around for three weeks while you still went out with him. I was jealous so I got into my truck with some eggs. Egging random people always helps me calm down but I was still mad and all the eggs were gone. Then I realized that I was on Mike's street and it just all happened from there. It was stupid... but I'm not really that smart to begin with"

Quinn exhaled and turned to face Puck. He looked at her and made eye contact. "Where is this going?"

Puck gave her a confused look signalling Quinn to explain herself further. She did as such. "I thought I knew for a minute. I thought that you wanted to be with me and that I wanted to be with you. Now I'm not so sure. You were just so stupid and it just makes me thing... do you really want to be with me or do you just want to prove to Mike that you _can _be with me?"

"You're not some fucking prize pig at a fair Quinn," Puck whispered to her, "You're the girl I want to be with. I... I love you."

That was it. Quinn wanted to melt into a million little pieces. There were the three words she was so afraid that she would never hear from Puck again. He still loved her. She hadn't thought it possible. She thought that somehow they would have to learn to love each other again, even if Quinn still felt that her feelings of love for Puck were still there.

"Three weeks," She reminded him, "Don't tell me things like that until then."

Puck smiled genuinely at her. "You mean you're still going to break up with Mike?"

Quinn nodded. "But you can't do anything stupid again. Mike's a really good guy Puck and I hated you when he told me that you punched him. Do it again and then there's no us _ever_ again."

Puck understood and asked, "Can I at least give you a hug or is that too much contact?"

Quinn smirked and allowed the hug. She opened up her arms and wrapped them around the boy. His body was warm, and Quinn wanted to kiss him as she felt his bare chest and arms wrap around her. She had to stick to her morals though and she made sure not to let her lips anywhere near his body. She couldn't risk him thinking she was kissing his neck or chest and then leading them on to doing more. Still, his tight muscles were making it all the harder not to star making out with him that very minute.

Both broke apart from the hug and Quinn stood up. "I have to go, but text Mike and apologize. It's the least you can do."

Puck agreed and waved Quinn off before he reentered his house to what Quinn could only expect to be a field of questions from his mother. Quinn tried to wipe the thought from her mind however and drove home where she was welcomed to her comfy bed and a good night's sleep.

The next morning Quinn quickly got ready for her girl's day with Mercedes. She was looking forward to it as it was a day she wouldn't have to put up with the Mike or Puck dramatics that had become her life. She could simply have a good time with her best friend and enjoy life and being a normal teenager. Quinn drove to the nail salon and found Mercedes already waiting for her in the salon, picking out the colour she wanted for her manicure.

Quinn sighed. "I didn't think I was late." She explained but Mercedes cut her off. "You're not, my mom had to drop me off ten minutes early. Now come here and help me pick out a fierce nail colour for me girl."

Quinn smiled and walked over to study the nail varnishes that Mercedes was contemplating. Quinn thought about suggesting a bright red but realized how cliche and overdone that was. Then she saw bright light purple and held it up to Mercedes. "This would look amazing on you!" She squealed.

Mercedes smiled. "You're a lot more than a pretty face." The two girls laughed and then tried to think of a good colour for Quinn to get her nails painted. They ended up deciding on a pale pink that went with Quinn's whole innocent and wholesome look. The real gossip and talking started when they started getting their nails painted however.

"How was your New Year's get together?" Quinn asked.

Mercedes smiled and started dishing. "It was really fun. It's too bad that you couldn't make it, but I'm sure you had fun at your party. Except... you did happen to miss Artie and Tina singing _Good Girls Go Bad_, it was hilarious."

Quinn giggled at the mere thought of the pair singing the song but then was instantly reminded of something else. "Wait, Tina was there with you guys?"

Mercedes stared at Quinn like she had a third head. "Of course she was... didn't I tell you that?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, you did but... well was Rachel with you guys then?"

Mercedes again stared at Rachel strangely. "We're not the biggest fans of Ms. Berry. We usually like to keep her _out_ of social situations like these. Why are you being so weird?"

Quinn bit her lip, not knowing if she should tell Mercedes or not what Finn had told her at the New Year's party. In the end she realized that Mercedes was her best friend and she should be able to trust her with the information. "It's just that Finn was at the same party Mike and I went to but Rachel wasn't with him. She told him that she was going out with Tina instead. It's just strange."

Mercedes smiled. "You mean we have our first scandal between Finn and Rachel now? Good job on hunting down the gossip Quinn!"

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't hunting anything down Mercedes," She defended, "And I don't think it's a scandal... do you? You don't think she was with another guy or anything right?"

Mercedes shrugged her shoulders and put on a secretive face. "I don't know. She'd be stupid to cheat on Finn... especially after how long she had been chasing him down last year, but it's Rachel we're talking about here. She does things that no one can fully explain properly."

Quinn fidgeted in her seat nervously. She wasn't a fan of Rachel Berry in the least but she did like Finn a lot. She didn't want him getting hurt, especially after all of the hurt she had caused him the year before, something she still never forgave herself for. Also, Quinn could tell from Mercedes' face that she wasn't telling her something. She needed to get to the bottom of it.

"You know something else," Quinn said, "Spill it."

Mercedes gave a little giggle and did as she was told. She never was one to keep secrets well. "Okay I'll tell you, but you can't freak out. Basically I overheard Rachel talking to someone on her cell phone after Glee Club one day. She was in an empty classroom and Finn was at football practice or something like that. Anyways I'm almost positive that she was talking to Jesse, and that they were planning to meet up sometime during the winter break."

Quinn's mouth dropped open. She hadn't been expecting that at all. Jesse had left New Directions to go back to Vocal Adrenaline, and he had humiliated Rachel on his way out. Quinn had no idea why the girl would even want to talk to the jerk again, never mind actually wanting to meet up with him. She also couldn't understand why she would risk everything she had with Finn with some idiot who, though he was very cute, wasn't even living in the same state as her anymore. Finn and Rachel seemed happy together. Why would Rachel throw it all away for an old flame? It simply didn't make any sense whatsoever.

"I'll have to tell Finn." Quinn stated. It had to be done. She wasn't going to let Finn be hurt again. She had hurt him enough for a lifetime, and he didn't need any pain coming his way for a while.

Mercedes shook her head. "You can't."

"Why not?" Quinn couldn't believe that Mercedes was trying to protect Rachel in the situation.

"If you do then he'll get angry, break up with Rachel, and then all of Glee Club will be awkward and fall apart. Maybe Rachel didn't do anything. We can't jump to conclusions. It's best for us to just mind our own business."

Quinn turned her glance away from Mercedes. She really didn't understand her friend's logic. Finn deserved to know the truth. Rachel _didn't_ deserve to screw around with the sweet boy because he was trusting and naive. "He needs to know Mercedes. Rachel can't get away with everything. You can't _let_ her get away with everything just because you're afraid that Glee Club will break apart. It's not fair. The bitch has to learn her place."

Mercedes stared at her friend, wondering if her anger was due to trying to protect Finn or just due to her immense hatred of Rachel. "Well at least ask Rachel about it first. Maybe she has a good reasoning for it. Don't tell Finn when we don't even know the whole story yet."

Quinn sighed. "Fine," She agreed, "But if she doesn't have a really good reason - and I mean a _really _good reason - then Finn is going to know everything."

Mercedes agreed with Quinn and the conversation turned back to light subjects such as what the other got for Christmas and how they dreaded going back to school so soon.

"How was your New Year's," Mercedes asked, "I totally forgot to mention it."

Quinn bit the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit. "It was... interesting. Lots and lots of drama."

"Explain yourself woman." Mercedes teased.

Quinn turned her gaze to her friend. "Mike grinded with some other girl. Olivia, that volleyball slut. Then he lied about it, but later admitted to it. But then he got mad at me for talking to Puck, and then he was furious when I told him that we were going to visit Beth together. He said that we needed a break and didn't talk to me for a few days. But other than that, it was a really awesome party."

Mercedes' mouth was hanging open. She managed to close it and make out, "Wait, rewind... you and Puck visited Beth? When?"

Quinn smiled. "Two days ago. She's the cutest thing in the world. It killed me to leave her though and I thought I was going to have a breakdown but Puck managed to calm me down. She's amazing though. She giggles at everything and is so soft. I didn't bring any pictures but I'll make sure to e-mail you some when I get home."

Mercedes was still in shock. "So you and Puck are now on speaking terms?"

Quinn smiled. "He's not a bad guy Mercedes. He's apologized for everything and he really is so sweet. We understand each other. Plus, it wasn't like I was going to visit Beth without him."

Mercedes nodded. "But... well this is just so sudden girl. What does Mike think of it all? Has he talked to you since?"

Quinn bit her lip. "See, there's more to the story. A lot more. Basically Mike didn't talk to me for a few days and then Puck and I went to visit Beth. we had a good time and went to dinner afterwards. He was being so sweet, and so not the douche bag he usually is. At the end of the night... we kissed, and I know I shouldn't have done it but Mike had sent me a text saying we needed to talk and that almost always means that a breakup is on the way so I was just so confused and angry. Anyways Puck and I decided we wanted to be with each other again... for real this time, so we planned that once Mike broke up with me the next day we could start dating again. The only problem is that Mike didn't want to break up with me. He started apologizing and I felt terrible. Then he starts telling me that his grandmother who he was close with just passed away so he had to go to China for two weeks with his family to settle everything. So I couldn't break up with him. I told Puck about it all and how we would have to wait at least a week after Mike came back from China for me to break up with him so he wouldn't get too hurt. Puck wasn't liking that we would have to wait three weeks though and he went and punched Mike in the face for some stupid reason. Everything is so complicated and so confusing but... in the end I want to be with Puck. Once Mike comes back I'm going to wait a week and then tell him that we're better off as friends. Then Puck and I can be together."

Quinn was out of breath by the time she finished explaining everything. She hoped that Mercedes would be supportive and understood exactly where she was coming from. Unfortunately, Quinn was not so lucky.

"I think you're being an idiot." Mercedes told her point blank. Quinn frowned. "Thanks for the support." Quinn sarcastically said.

Mercedes shook her head. "You're a ping pong ball Quinn! It's always Finn, Puck, Finn, Puck, Mike, Puck, Mike, Puck. Why can't you ever just make it work with one guy? No wait, why can't you ever just be happy on your own? You _don't_ need a boyfriend to make you happy with yourself."

Quinn furrowed her eyebrows. She was upset that Mercedes was making her seem like an insecure little girl. "This isn't me needing to be with someone Mercedes. This is me being in love with Puck and wanting him to be my boyfriend."

Mercedes shrugged her shoulders. "You're in love with being in a relationship. You need to be happy with yourself before you can truly be happy with someone else Quinn. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just trying to help you out."

Quinn was done with the subject. She didn't want to get into a fight with Mercedes when they still had plans after the manicure. Plus, she didn't want to second guess her decision to be with Puck anymore than she already had. "Let's move on to another subject," She suggested, "This day was for having fun, not for arguing. How are you and Dwayne?"

Mercedes seemed to get the message and started telling Quinn a story of what Dwayne had bought her for Christmas. Quinn tried paying attention but she couldn't help her mind drifting off and wondering if Mercedes was right about her.

The rest of the day was spent with the two girls having fun and laughing. They both stayed away from sore subjects like Puck or Mike and simply had a good time with each other.

When Quinn returned home she sat on the living room couch trying to put all thoughts of Mike and Puck out of her mind. She decided that a good distraction would to be figure out what had really happened between Rachel and Jesse on New Year's. Quinn took out her cell phone and called Rachel's number. She only had the number because Rachel had insisted the whole Glee Club have each other's incase there was a mega emergency. Quinn had previously contemplated deleting Rachel's number off of her phone but was now glad that she hadn't as it had come in handy.

"Hello?" Quinn could hear the perkiness and high-pitched voice clear as day and she couldn't help but cringe.

"Hey Rachel, it's Quinn." She tried to sound as polite and casual as possible, but she had a feeling that Rachel would know she had ulterior motives.

"I don't mean to be rude," Rachel said from the other line, "But you and me have never really been the best of friends. I've always been a better singer than you, you've always made it your mission to try and bring me down, and of course there was the whole Finn drama from last year so... why exactly are you calling me?"

Quinn rolled her eyes at Rachel who seemed to always bring up their bad blood every chance she got. "I just wanted to see how you were doing... you know if you were having a good break and all. But now that you mentioned him, how have things been going with you and Finn?"

This seemed to make Rachel more chipper. "Oh they're absolutely perfect. We're very much in love. I push him to be as talented as he can and he balances me out very well. I mean there was a little trouble when I found out that he had slept with Santana but we got over that. We're just that strong of a couple."

"Mhmm," Quinn muttered, "Well then would you mind telling me why you spent New Year's with Jesse rather than Finn?"

There was silence on the other line and Quinn knew that it had to be true. Rachel never was one to keep quiet or be silenced so it was obvious that she had been caught. "Uhmm... I don't know what you're talking about Quinn. I was hanging out with Tina on New Year's."

"No you weren't," Quinn said in a sing song manner, "Tina was hanging out with Mercedes and some of the other Glee Club members."

"Wh- Who told you that I was hanging out with Jesse?" Rachel stuttered.

Quinn smiled as she set her plan into motion to receive confirmation on her suspicions. "Jesse did."

"No he didn't," Rachel immediately interjected, "He told me that he doesn't talk to any of the other New Directions kids!"

That was all Quinn needed to hear. "Aha! So you have been talking to him!"

"No," Rachel cried, "Okay... fine, I have been, but not really. He called me once and said he wanted to talk and apologize. New Year's was the only day he could do it. It wasn't like anything happened!"

Quinn was proud of herself for being able to get information out of Rachel so easily, but it _was_ Rachel and she wasn't exactly the most tight lipped girl on the planet. "Well if it's not a big deal then why didn't you just tell Finn the truth?"

Rachel sighed. "You know he would get jealous and overreact Quinn. That doesn't mean that I'm hiding anything though. All we did was talk about last year. He apologized and told me about UCLA. That's it. Please, don't tell Finn. I know we don't like each other too much but I would never do that to you."

Quinn had to roll her eyes so much that she thought her eyes would stay stuck that way. "_You_ were the one who told Finn that it was Puck's baby!"

"That was different... okay maybe it wasn't , but I'm sorry about that. Please though, _please_ do not tell Finn. He'll start getting scared that I kept it from him and our whole relationship could fall apart!"

Quinn let out a small chuckle. "I thought your relationship was so, so strong?"

"Please," Rachel begged, "Please do not tell Finn."

Quinn thought about it for a second. Rachel seemed very worried, and she did seem sincere when she was saying that nothing happened between her and Jesse other than talking. "You promise that you didn't cheat on Finn?"

Rachel was quick to respond. "I promise. I swear on Barbara Streisand."

"Fine," Quinn relented, "I'll keep your secret, but if I ever need a favour you have to promise that you'll owe me one. No matter how big it is." Quinn figured that if she was going to be keeping Rachel's secret, and thus being semi-nice to her, she might as well get something out of doing it.

"I won't break any of the commandments for you... but otherwise fine I will." Rachel's voice seemed defeated which was a good thing. It just showed that when it came down to it, Quinn was the head bitch in charge she had once been.

Quinn hung up the phone after promising she would keep Rachel's secret and turned on the TV. It was a rerun of America's Best Dance Crew. Quinn sighed and was reminded of Mike. What was she going to do with the whole Mike and Puck situation? She thought she had it all figured out, but after her talk with Mercedes Quinn wasn't so sure anymore. She quickly flipped the channel and tried to take her mind off of such matters.

_Author's Note: (Please Read!)_

_ Thank you so much for reading the chapter first off, and I hope all of you enjoyed it! I once again must apologize for the terribly long wait! I really am so sorry! I planned on writing it sooner but I've been incredibly busy lately. However this weekend I was free and made myself write every moment that I could! Surprisingly there was absolutely no writer's block and I wrote more this chapter in two days then I did last time in more than a week! Anyways, I hope you all loved the chapter even if it was filled with a lot of angst._

_ Also, I want to thank those who have been reviewing the chapters so, so, so much! You all are awesome and I appreciate every single review so much! It really takes a lot of time and effort to write which makes it so rewarding to receive reviews! I'd also like to thank those who have been setting the story or myself as an author to their alerts or favourites! It's such a great compliment!_

_ I'm not exactly sure right now, but I think that the next chapter will be the last for this story. I don't want to drag it out and I have a good idea in my head for an ending that would have to take place in the next chapter. _

_ The next story I have in my head is completely AU. The pairing would be Jesse/Quinn. How do you all feel about that couple? Let me know in the reviews! A lot of people say "huh?" when I mention Quinn/Jesse as a couple but check out some fan vids on youtube of the pairing and I dare you not to ship them!_

_ Again thank you so much for reading! Also, writer's take great time and energy to create stories, so if you have the time I would greatly appreciate if you could review this story :) It could be a word, a sentence, or even a whole paragraph! Any comments or suggestions are welcome and I look forward to hearing them! :)_

_ Until next time,_

_ Happy Reading! =)_


	7. I Dreamed A Dream

Once school started back up Quinn was able to get back on track with her life. Cheerio's and Glee Club were both in full swing and Quinn felt better having a schedule and some sense of normalcy to her life. Winter break had been full of drama and left with Quinn with a lot of empty time to think about said drama. Seeing Puck at school every day didn't make not thinking about her situation with him and Mike any easier, but at least she had other activities to occupy her time with while she was at school.

Rachel was acting a lot nicer to her during Glee Club. It was clear that she was afraid of the threat of Quinn spilling her secret so she was trying her best not to ruffle any feathers with the head Cheerio. She had even managed to not make any comments when Quinn's voice had gone sharp for a moment during one of their rehearsals. It may not be a big deal for anyone else, but for Rachel it had taken immense will power to hold her tongue and keep silent.

Coach Sylvester had been spending her winter break developing super hard routines for the Cheerio's. It was going to be set to a Madonna song that Kurt was more than pleased to be singing. The song was _Hung Up_ and it required Quinn to push herself farther than ever to master the moves. Santana had been waiting patiently in the middle of the pyramid for Quinn to quiver, or slip when it was time for her to do a flip from the top of the pyramid down to the ground. The frenemy was determined to become the head cheerleader and she was convinced that if Coach Sylvester saw that Quinn was not capable of completing the tough moves she would be able to win said position. Quinn could see Santana's excitement and anticipation written on her face though so she made sure that she did the move perfectly. Quinn would be damned if she lost her shiny title to the girl. She made sure that she had the flip down perfectly and that she kept her stage face plastered on during the whole thing. coach Sylvester was impressed, and Quinn's title of head cheerio remained intact.

"Santana wants you to get pregnant again," Brittany told Quinn randomly one day after practice.

Quinn gave the dim witted blonde a confused face. "What are you talking about? Why?"

Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "She said something about life being better when you were in spandex pants and she was on top of the pyramid. Then I saw something shiny and I stopped listening."

Quinn rolled her eyes. She had dealt with Santana's jealously fuelled fits before but she had thought that after so long of Quinn being back on top she would have accepted things. Honestly, Santana should have just been pleased for having those few months last year where she was top dog. Before Quinn's pregnancy news had broke no one had anticipated a fall from grace for her, so in reality Santana had been lucky to experience being Head Bitch in Charge, even if it hadn't been for as long as she probably had wanted. Still, Quinn wouldn't be surprised if Santana tried to steal her birth control pills so she could replace them with placebos.

Truthfully, Quinn actually enjoyed the Santana drama as it was a great distraction. Of course when everything was better and she was with Puck, Quinn would want it all to end, but at this point when Quinn was in the awkward limbo point between Mike and Puck she was happy to have something to take her mind off of things. That's why Cheerio's, Glee Club, and the massive stack of homework due had also become her best friends.

A good part of Mike being in China was that Quinn was more free to talk with Puck openly. Sure, Quinn suspected that Mike had enlisted Matt to e-mail him immediately if he saw anything funny between the two, but Quinn didn't think there was any harm in talking to him during Glee Club or between classes. She made sure never to eat lunch with him. That seemed too personal and would make everyone suspicious. She continued to divide her lunch time up between the Cheerio's and Jocks, and Mercedes and Kurt. Anyways, Quinn felt more comfortable talking to Puck in public and it was actually refreshing. All of their time had mostly been spent in private, or in places they didn't suspect anyone they knew to be. It was nice to see how they interacted when there were other people around. Quinn deemed it necessary so she could see if they would be natural as a real couple. It seemed to be working out fine. Puck wasn't as sweet as he was when they were alone, but that was to be expected. However he was never a jerk to her and Quinn knew she had to give him some leeway. He did have a badass reputation to uphold after all.

"Rachel's being _too _nice to me." Quinn complained to Puck one day after Glee Club rehearsal. They were both walking to their cars and Quinn couldn't hold her frustrations in anymore. When she had blackmailed Rachel into doing her a favour whenever she needed it in exchange for keeping her rendezvous with Jesse a secret she had never expected Rachel to act like they were new best friends. Rachel had been constantly nominating Quinn for solos, offering her help on vocal techniques while somehow managing not to brag about her own singing voice, making small talk at every opportunity, and even making her a damn batch of cookies! Quinn couldn't take it anymore.

"Just draw another one of those naked pictures of her around the school." Puck suggested.

Quinn frowned. That had been something she had taken great pleasure in doing last year, but she had matured and known how much those types of things could hurt people. She still liked to give backhanded compliments and threaten people, but Quinn felt above cruel jokes and pornographic photos at this point of her life. She felt like she would do what she needed to remain popular, but that she wasn't going to be mean when she didn't mean to be. Sometimes a Cheerio needed to be put in her place and yelled at, but Quinn didn't need to plan out practical jokes just for fun anymore. Quinn had actually been surprised by her own growth.

"No," She told him, "I'm not doing that anymore. And you shouldn't be throwing kids into dumpsters anymore. We're more mature than that now."

Puck shrugged her comment off. "I don't do it too much. Only when some punk _really_ deserves it… or when I need to remind people that I'm a badass."

Quinn smirked but she was glad to hear that Puck wasn't bullying kids as much as he had been at the start of the year. She remembered back to when her and Mike had passed by Puck and his neanderthal friends about to throw Mike's brother's friend into the dumpster and how disgusted she had been with his attitude. She was much happier now that he had seemed to calm down a tad with the bullying.

"Maybe you could call her out for me," Quinn suggested, "You know, the next time Rachel starts being all Jennifer Aniston - Courtney Cox with me maybe you could ask her why she's being so nice. That'll probably shut her up quick."

Puck turned to Quinn and put an arm on her shoulder for her to stop walking and stand still. "Why? What do you have on her?"

Quinn should have known that Puck would sense that there was more than meets the eye with the Rachel situation. He himself had lots of experience in blackmail so it wasn't a surprise that he had guessed that something was up. Still, Quinn didn't want to blab the secret, especially since Puck and Finn were finally friends again which meant that Puck would automatically "protect his bro" and tell him about Rachel meeting up with her ex.

Quinn ultimately made the decision to keep the secure to herself. "Nothing. Just something stupid that she's overreacting about. Anyways I have to get her off of my back. Maybe I'll just crumble up those stupid cookies she baked me and pour them all into her locker."

Puck smiled and licked his lips. "You have no idea how hot you are when you're being evil."

Quinn giggled and started walking again. The pair made their way out of the main foyer doors and continued walking in the direction of the parking lot. "You and Santana are friends right?"

Quinn asked the question already knowing the answer. Though Puck and Santana had been the most on again off again couple in all of McKingly High School history they always seemed to remain friends. They joked around with each other, told each other secrets, and hung out a lot. Quinn wasn't afraid that Puck was fooling around with her, at least she didn't think he had after they had created the plan to get back together, but she needed to ask Puck something pertaining to that situation.

Puck didn't know that however so he tried to play it cool and casually shrugged. "I guess. She's a cool chick."

Quinn nodded. "Are you going to stay friends with her once we start going out?"

Puck was now positive that Quinn was being jealous. He had no idea how wrong he was. "Listen babe, you don't got to worry about that. I'm not going to cheat."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "I don't think that egghead. I'm fine if you're friends with her. I don't want to be one of those possessive, catty girlfriends. I was just wondering if you wanted to stay friends with her."

Puck causally nodded. "Yeah… well I mean I guess I do."

Quinn smiled and got ready for what she had been waiting to say. "So you won't mind me staying friends with Mike."

Puck stood still as Quinn continued walking to her car. She realized that Puck was no longer beside her and turned around. "What?" She innocently asked.

"You never said you wanted to be friends with Mike." Puck pointed out to her.

Quinn gave Puck a slight grin and walked back towards him, stopping in front of him. "But I like him. He' s a good guy. You're friends with Santana. What's the problem if I'm friends with Mike? Unless you'd be jealous…"

Puck immediately became defensive. "The Puckerone is too cool for that. I just don't understand why you'd want to be friends with that clown when you'd be dating the man, the myth, the legend."

Quinn smirked. "I want to be friends with him… and if we can't even agree on this then I don't know if there's much hope for us after all."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Puck replied putting his hands up, "Let's not be hasty. I never said you couldn't be friends with him, i just said I didn't _understand_ it."

Quinn laughed and was glad that Puck would be fine with her being friends with Mike. She wanted to continue to hang out with her boyfriend as he was fun to be around and super sweet. He was a good guy, the best guy. She hated that she was going to hurt him so much but she had a feeling that if they stayed friends that things would be able to smooth over well.

They stopped walking in front of Quinn's car. The girl's back was turned to it and she was facing Puck. He gave her one of those smiles of his that made her want to melt into a million little pieces. He leaned in just a tad, not too much that it would look strange to anyone passing by, but just enough so that Quinn would take notice. He whispered, "This is the part where'd I kiss you… but apparently that's against the rules."

Quinn giggled. "That's right. No kissing until I'm single."

Puck sighed. "What about an ass grab?"

That comment immediately responded in an eye roll from Quinn, even though secretly she was amused. "Goodbye Puck."

"Bye Quinn." The boy walked over to his truck and both teenagers both drove to their respective homes.

Things went on very much the same from that point on. Quinn would distract herself with Glee, school, and Cheerio's while also enjoying spending time with Puck. She was actually surprised how well they were getting along, and how faithful Puck seemed to be on his promise to wait for her. She knew it was a big deal for him. Quinn didn't hear much from Mike. He was visiting with a whole bunch of relatives in China and didn't have everyday access to a computer. He sent her e-mails occasionally, and she would respond but they were basically filled with small talk. They would talk about the weather, school, glee, and their group of friends, but nothing especially substantial. Quinn didn't know if it was her fault, or a sign that their relationship was not what it used to be.

Though Quinn and Puck had tried to keep their friendship and flirting on the down-low, Quinn realized that she hadn't been doing as good of a job as she had thought. This was realized when Matt came up to her one day between classes.

"Quinn, can I talk to you about something?" He asked. Quinn was nervous that her cover had been revealed so she slowly nodded her head and allowed Matt to continue. "Is there something going on with you and Puck? Cause the last time I checked you were all over my boy Mike and now you seem to be attached to Puck's arm since Mike's in China."

Quinn played it cool and put on her legendary poker face. She wasn't going to look like she had been caught, especially not in front of Mike's best friend who was loyal to a fault. "Puck is my friend. We've been talking since we visited Beth during the break. Mike knows and he's fine with it. Don't worry about it Matt; it'll just give you acne."

Her answer seemed to satisfy Matt and he walked away without another word. Quinn breathed a sigh of relief and was so glad that she had not been caught. Time was running out and she only had a little bit of time left to continue on with the facade that her and Puck were just friends and that she was still in adoration with Mike.

After school Quinn found Puck at his locker. He was putting his backpack into it. Quinn walked over to him. "Want to hang out at my house?" She offered.

Quinn knew that it may not be the safest of invitations since Matt had just questioned about her and Puck becoming too close but Quinn didn't care. She wanted to hang out with Puck and it wasn't like they were going to _do _anything. Quinn was sticking to her guns on that one. Also, Matt was on the other side of the school being confronted by Santana for talking to Quinn when she had made it clear that he was not to add to her popularity at all so Quinn knew she was in the clear.

Puck turned towards the blonde haired beauty, "I'd like to, but I have basketball practice."

Quinn frowned. She had really been hoping to spend time with him that day. Puck seemed to take notice of Quinn's disappointment however and suggested, "I could come over after practice… if you want."

Quinn smiled and nodded. "Sounds good. See you then."

There was no Cheerio's practice that day because Coach Sylvester was having a "medical emergency" as she had told the members of the group. The rumour going around the school was that Mr. Schue had gotten her drunk and convinced to get a tattoo saying 'I'm a Gleek' across her lower back so she was having it removed. Quinn didn't mind. She liked having a break from the rigorous routines. Still, she thought that the dram between the two teachers was silly and very immature. She didn't understand why they couldn't get along but then again this was Ms. Sylvester and she wasn't the most understanding of people. One time a girl was upchucking tacos in the bathroom stall before Nationals and Coach Sylvester still made her perform, and then berated her for eating fatty tacos in the first place! In any case it was a welcome change to not have to worry about Cheerio's for a day.

She went home and finished her homework right away. Quinn was still keeping up with her grades as she knew it was her only way out of Lima. Not that she didn't love her mother or that she didn't appreciate her bringing her back into her home, but Quinn had always felt like she was bigger than Lima or even Ohio in general. Nobody became someone successful or famous being in Lima and Quinn knew it. She wanted to go to a really good school like NYU where she could get a quality education and also be in a city full of opportunities. The only way to get there though was through hard work, good grades, and extracurriculars. Being head Cheerio and a member of the Glee Club were excellent credentials. Being the captain of the Celibacy Club also would have shown her leadership and determination but Quinn knew that ship had sailed. Celibacy wasn't her deal anymore. She thought it was a great idea for some people, but ti just hadn't been the best plan for her.

That got Quinn thinking. She was seventeen years old and she had already slept with two boys. She had previously planned on waiting before marriage to have sex. That idea had been squashed during an incident involving wine coolers, a bruised self-esteem, and temptation. Still, Quinn didn't regret having sex with Puck. Well, she did the first time. She hadn't been ready at that point as was evident when she didn't even notice he wasn't wearing a condom, but she didn't regret having sex with him after she gave birth to Beth. Those times she was ready and felt good about it. She loved Puck and didn't feel bad about doing it at all. Now, Quinn didn't regret Beth at all. Sure, she wished that she had come at a different point in her life, or that there had been some easy way to keep her and still follow all of her dreams, but she never would take it back. Even though it caused her pain and humiliation Quinn had seen how beautiful and wonderful the baby girl was and couldn't imagine going back and doing anything different. Plus her mistakes in the past were now lessons for the present and for the future. Quinn had realized how much she had grown as a person from having Beth. She had become more aware of other people's feelings, she had become more compassionate, and she also had fallen in love with the baby's father.

One thought was nagging at the back of Quinn's mind. She didn't regret having sex with Puck. He was the only boy she had been in love with. However, Quinn was starting to realize that she _did _regret sleeping with Mike. She hadn't loved him. She didn't know why sex had seemed like a good idea at the time but as she was thinking back on it her decision to sleep with him seemed horrible. Mike was a good guy but she shouldn't have gone all the way with him. They didn't have that type of relationship. Quinn felt like an idiot for lying to herself and making herself believe it was what she wanted. The tears started forming in her eyes and Quinn attempted to hold herself together. It had been so wrong. Why had she done it? Not that she didn't like Mike, but she wasn't ready for sex with him. Quinn felt stupid and ridiculous. She waited eagerly for Puck to arrive at her house so that she could be comforted, even if it would be in Puck's awkward way of dealing with upset girls.

Quinn's mother came home before Puck arrived. Quinn was in the living room, curled up on the couch as she let tears lightly trail down her face. Ms. Fabray took notice and sat down on the couch beside her daughter. She looked genuinely concerned for her daughter which pleased Quinn. It had been not long ago when her mother had viewed her daughter as a trophy, something to brag about, but now she was viewing Quinn the way she should have all seventeen years of her life. "Quinnie, don't cry. What's wrong?"

Though Quinn was happy that her mother was taking notice of her being upset and showing concern, she didn't want to tell her the truth. Quinn could correctly assume that her mother knew that she had been having sex with Puck during the summer but she was still blissfully unaware that Quinn had slept with Mike and it wasn't something a teenage daughter enjoyed telling their mother. Ms. Fabray would freak. She hadn't been for having sex with Puck but she bought her daughter birth control pills because she didn't want to deny the inevitable addend up with a daughter pregnant for the second time as a teenager. Plus it seemed like the two really did care for each other. On the other hand, Ms. Fabray had seen Mike as a rebound relationship for Quinn and she didn't think that they were that serious at all. It would disappoint her if she knew that they had been hooking up. Therefore Quinn kept her lips zipped and made up a lame excuse.

"Nothing," Quinn lied, "I just got a C on my spanish test today. I studied hard for it and everything."

Ms. Fabray gently grazed Quinn's cheek with her hand and wiped away a few tears. "Honey, don't cry over a test. It's one test. Just figure out where you went wrong and do better next time. No need to waste water."

Quinn smiled and thanked her mother for comforting her. Ms. Fabray nodded and asked, "Do you want to watch a movie or something? Just us girls?"

Quinn felt bad. Her mother was reaching out to her after showing growth but Quinn had already made previous arrangements.

"I would, but Puck is coming over to hang out for a bit soon. Maybe after dinner we could watch a movie?"

"Puck," Ms. Fabray asked, completely ignoring the evening plans that Quinn had suggested, "I didn't know that him coming over was going to be a regular occurrence."

Quinn sighed. "We're friends. We just want to spend time with each other."

"Does Mike know?"

Quinn had to bite her tongue to not tell her mother that she would do well to mind her own business. Instead she replied, "He doesn't."

"Are you going to tell him?"

Quinn was becoming increasingly agitated. "There wouldn't be anything to tell. If I mentioned anything it would just make it out like there _was_ something going on… which there isn't."

Ms. Fabray nodded and quietly exited the room, leaving her daughter to her own thoughts. Quinn hoped that Puck would arrive soon so thatch could stop thinking about Mike and thus feeling guilty about everything. If only her mother could have accepted that Puck was coming over without asking questions. Things would have been much easier.

A few minutes later Quinn heard the doorbell rang. She quickly went to answer it and smiled when she saw Puck.

Quinn motioned for Puck to move backwards. "I really don't want to be inside right now. My mom's acting weird. Can we just sit on the porch or something?"

Puck nodded, not asking any questions about her mother which Quinn was thankful for. Puck always knew that most times family matters were the last thing that anyone wanted to talk about. The pair sat on the top step of the Fabray Household porch.

Quinn took a deep breath to calm herself down from her mother's assumptions. "How was basketball practice?"

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "It was alright. Not like we're going to win games or anything though."

"Why not?"

Puck smirked at the blonde. "We never do. McKingly High is the running joke of Ohio. We never win anything. Except Cheerio's."

"And Glee Club," Quinn pointed out, "Well we won Sectionals at least. Two years straight."

Puck nodded. "Okay sorry. Any time that Quinn Fabray isn't a part of never wins squat."

The cheerleader giggled. "Very funny. It's not my fault if I'm awesome at everything I do."

Puck rolled his eyes at Quinn and she playfully slapped him on the side of his arm. "Be nice Puckerman."

Puck promised to try and then sat awkwardly in his letterman jacket beside Quinn, not knowing what to say. They were in the uncomfortable stage of being together without being together. All he wanted to do was wrap his arms around Quinn and kiss her but he knew that she wouldn't put up with it. Quinn was making sure that they didn't cross any sort of lines and boundaries no matter how much they both wanted to. Quinn noticed the awkwardness but couldn't think of anything to say. She was still distracted with the conversation with her mother previously. So instead of picking a fluffy, fun topic, she brought up the first thing that popped into her head.

"I don't think I'm ever going to be able to date anyone else again."

Puck gave Quinn a questioning glance telling her to further explain herself. Quinn did as such. "I think I'm going to start getting a reputation for cheating on boys with you, or leaving boys _for_ you. No one is ever going to want to go out with me again."

Puck smiled and nonchalantly commented, "Then I guess you're just going to have to only date me from now on."

Quinn was shocked at Puck's comment. Sure, he had told her he loved her before but he had never said anything like what he had just said. It surprised her. He usually wasn't so sweet and kind. He had a hard shell around him and didn't let his soft side out much. Quinn was reminded of the sweet moments they had shared in the summer before school had started.

"Are you joking?" Quinn whispered, trying to make it out like she didn't care too much either way but she knew that it didn't sound like that at all. Her hopefulness was written all over her face.

Puck didn't tease Quinn for her apparent eagerness. He simply put his arm around her shoulder, shuffled in closer to her, kissed the top of her head and told her, "Yeah, I mean it."

Quinn couldn't take the grin off of her face. This was what she wanted. This is what she needed. Everything was coming together perfectly. She had been afraid that there was too much bad blood between her and Puck to ever have a successful real relationship for a moment, but now her fears were behind her. They were going to be fine. No - they were going to be great.

Quinn had to shift slightly away from Puck however, and have him drop his arm from around her shoulder. It wasn't something they should be doing as "just friends" so she had to put a stop to it… even if she had been enjoying it greatly. Puck didn't make a big deal about it. He had become accustomed to playing the friend role to Quinn even though they both had expressed their feelings to one another. He didn't like it, but he had accepted it. The conversation between the pair shifted to lighter subjects and they laughed and acted like the teenagers they were. They didn't have to put on the angst show and conflict each other with drama. Around an hour later Puck told Quinn that he had to leave so he could take care of his little sister while his mother was at work. Quinn quickly hugged him goodbye and went back inside her house.

Quinn stayed away from her mother for the rest of the night. She didn't want to have the conversation of the whole Puck and Mike drama that she knew her mother wanted to talk to her about. She stayed in her room, coming down in the kitchen to make herself a salad for dinner, and went back up to her bedroom. She didn't know where her mother was, that was until she heard a knock on her door at ten o' clock at night. Obviously it was her mother so Quinn reluctantly said, "Come in," and braced herself for the conversation that was bound to ensue.

"Quinnie, I think we need to talk," Ms. Fabray replied as she sauntered over closer to her daughter's bed where Quinn was laying, "I'm sorry if I made you upset earlier. I just don't want you to be foolish and ruin what you have with Mike over some other boy."

Quinn sat up from her horizontal position and lode at her mother sitting on the end of her bed. She didn't look malicious, and seemed sincere, and it made Quinn want to lay out the truth. She wasn't sure if she was strong enough to tell her mother. She had been keeping it from everyone else, but this was her _mother_. She was supposed to be trusted and able to give advice. It basically came with the title. Quinn decided to throw out a line of the truth.

"I think I like Puck again." The statement was simple and rang clear and true. Though she had used the words 'I think', Quinn knew her mother would understand that they had only been used because she was afraid to be thought of as completely foolish.

Ms. Fabray sighed and clicked her tongue. "Almost every girl will come to a crossroad at least once in her life where she is conflicted with deciding between two boys. One is usually nice, and good for the girl whereas the other one is different. He's more mysterious and edgy. It's hard to decipher whether you should pick the one that's good for you or the one that makes you feel something you've never felt before."

"So what," Quinn asked, "You think I should pick Mike? He's nice and good so I should just stay with him?"

Ms. Fabray shook her head. "No, I don't. You see, I had been stuck in a crossroad too once upon a time I was seeing a boy who my parents liked and that was becoming a prominent business man. He was a gentleman and was sweet to me. However I met this man at work and we begun a flirtation. He drove a motorcycle and had a tattoo which automatically made him a bad boy in the eyes of my parents and friends. I had to choose between the two and I ultimately decided to continue seeing the boy who my parents liked."

Quinn had never been one for story time but she was intrigued with the tale her mother was telling her. "What happened then?"

Ms. Fabray frowned. "We got married and had two lovely and beautiful daughters… but it didn't work out. Turns out he wasn't as nice as he had once appeared. However I found out a few years into marrying your father that the other boy I had strong feelings for had been arrested and was in jail for nine years. Something to do with theft. Anyways, do you see what I'm getting at?"

Quinn honestly didn't. Still, she made an attempt to guess. "You're saying that I should stick with Mike and just hope that he doesn't start cheating on me with some Jesse James mistress look a like?"

Ms. Fabray smirked at her daughter's comment but shook her head. "No," She answered, "I'm trying to say that even though at the moment this choice seems like it has to be made and that there has to be a winner… well that's not the case. You always have the choice not to choose. You could be single for a while Quinnie and figure out what you really want in a relationship. You're bouncing around rather quickly into relationships and maybe you need a little time to yourself. Believe me, if I could go back to when I made my decision I would have broken things off with your father, rejected the bad boy and spent some time with myself. Maybe I could have found the man I was meant to be with, or maybe I could've learnt how to be more assertive. I… I just don't want you to make the same mistake I did Quinn because you feel that you have to make a choice. You don't."

Quinn could see that her mother was teary-eyed and it made her stomach drop. Her mother was laying everything, all of her feelings and stories of the oats out on the table at the hopes that she could reach her daughter. Quinn was reminded of her conversation with Mercedes and thought that the two talks had been eerily similar. The teenager wondered if maybe everyone was right and she did need some time to herself. It was after all her mother and best friend telling her to do so. They wouldn't give her bad advice on purpose. Still, she wanted to be with Puck. She honestly and truly did.

She bit her lip as she tried to explain herself to her mother, without going into too much detail as they didn't have that kind of relationship yet. She wanted to be ultra close with her mother and tell her everything, but their past was filled with a lot of bad memories. "I'm afraid that if I tell Puck that he'll leave and never come back. He'll think that I'm always stringing him along and telling him that there's a chance when there isn't."

Ms. Fabray stood up an domed closer to where Quinn was sitting on the bed. She then sat down on the edge and put a hand on her shoulder. "If he truly wants to be with you now then he'll want to be with you then."

Quinn shook her head and let out a little chuckle. "You don't understand. Puck isn't used to waiting around for someone. If I want to be alone then he won't do the same. He'll go off with one of the other Cheerio's or some slut."

Her mother frowned at the vulgarity. "Do you really want to be with him if he's not willing to be patient?"

Quinn nodded, but this time she was more hesitant. "He's not used to having a girlfriend or being serious with anyone. I can't hold it against him. He does care about me though, but if I tell him I want to be alone he'll just take it as a sign that I don't want to be his girlfriend."

"I see." Ms. Fabray didn't know what to say past that point. She felt like she had told her daughter so much of how she should solve her problems and that it was hard to see her still fret about a boy. She wanted the best for her daughter. She could see that Puck made her happy, but if he wasn't willing to wait for Quinn to be ready to have a relationship then Ms. Fabray wasn't sure if she wanted her daughter dating him.

Quinn was also very perplexed by the entire situation. She thought she had everything figured out. She was going to dump Mike and start dating Puck. It was easy a plan as ever. But those close to her didn't share her enthusiasm for the plan. There was too much drama that Quinn was seriously contemplating if a break from boys was really what she needed. She would still want to be with Puck but at first she might need some time to herself. Still, Puck probably wouldn't take well to her telling him that.

"Mom," Quinn asked, "What should I do?"

Ms. Fabray looked at her daughter sympathetically and hoped that her words would come out right. "Honey I can't tell you that. If you're able to have a baby then I think that you're able to make this decision. In the end just make sure that _you're_ happy."

Quinn nodded and knew that it was all she was going to get out of her mother. Nonetheless her mother had really opened up to her that night. She had been warm, compassionate, and actually talked about her past, something that had been never mentioned before except for excerpts of her relationship with Mr. Fabray or her days of being popular. Her mother had a seemingly perfect life. She had been a cheerleader, president of her school's own celibacy club, a tennis player, and she had more friends than she could've kept track of. One night when Quinn and her sister were little and they had been left with a babysitter, they had snuck into her parents room and found a bunch of old love letters stuck between the pages of her mother's yearbook, hidden in a box in the closet. It was evident that all the boys liked her. Ms. Fabray had received good grades, went to all of the best parties, and managed to continue a relationship with God by praying, leading a community youth group, and going to church every Sunday. She had even stayed a virgin until she was married. Quinn was scared that with all her mother had done to strengthen her relationship with God that he would be ashamed of her daughter. Quinn now knew that her mother's life had not been perfect. she had been thrust into a whorl doff lies, deceit, and trying to live up to perfect images, but it still seemed somewhat charmed to Quinn.

"Mom, do you think God is going to forgive me?" Quinn had been surprised herself that she had asked the question. She could usually control herself but this had been a rare time when she had spoke something that had popped into her head.

Ms. Fabray raised an eyebrow. "Because of Beth?"

Quinn shrugged. "Because of Beth… because of the summer… because of the things I did in the summer that I might do in the future. Will he not love me because I don't follow that one rule?"

Ms. Fabray didn't want to give her daughter the go ahead on having pre marital sex, but she also didn't want her daughter feeling ashamed. "I've never met him dear so I don't know anymore than you do. I would simply try to be a good person though. And he'll love you no matter what. You can make all the mistakes in the world, but if you repent then God will forgive you."

Quinn sighed and laid back down onto her comfy pillow. Her mother's answer hadn't clarified much for her but she couldn't expect her mother to know the inner workings of the mind of God. She felt deep down i her heart that God would forgive her. It wasn't even that serious of a sin, and everyone was doing it. Quinn knew that didn't make it right, but it made her feel better. Her religion always made her question herself and she didn't like it. Quinn closed her eyes and whispered, "Thanks for the advice mom, but I'm tired."

Ms. Fabray got the message. She leaned down to kiss Quinn on the forehead and she then walked out of the room, leaving her daughter to her dreams.

The next day at school Quinn tried to avoid Puck without making it obvious to him. She just needed some time to think about what her mother had told her and it would be far simpler if she could do it alone. However the day after Puck came up to her.

"Avoiding me?" He asked. He tried to play it off as a joke but it came out more serious than he had intended it to.

Quinn shook her head and politely smiled at the boy. "No.. I've just been thinking to myself a lot lately."

Puck and Quinn continued to walk to her class as he asked her what she had been thinking about. Quinn thought on her toes and quickly came up with a suitable lie. There was no use in telling Puck the truth if she ended up not agreeing with it. "Mike's coming home tomorrow," She reminded Puck, "He sent me an e-mail telling me. It's getting closer and closer to break up day and I'm trying to figure out how to tell him without him getting hurt."

Puck looked relieved. "Good, I thought you were mad at me for something."

Quinn told him that wasn't the case. "I might have to break up with Mike earlier," She added, "I'm tired of leading him on."

Puck smiled at the comment, thinking that it only quickened up the time he had to wait to be with Quinn so he was all for it. "Whatever you think is best babe," He replied, "How much earlier are you thinking?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe the second day he's back. I can't do it as soon as he comes back. That'd be awful."

Puck told her that he thought it was a good idea. Quinn wondered if he would be so supportive to her if he knew that she was still deciding on whether or not she should stay single for a while. She wanted to tell Puck and hear his opinion on the matter but she knew she shouldn't until she had made her mind up on what to do. Plus, Puck would probably be mad and in a huff, quickly followed by asking if they could still hook up when she was single. No, she needed to figure this out for herself. Still, being beside Puck made it difficult. He was easily the hottest guy in the entire school and when she was around him Quinn's legs turned to jelly. She couldn't be the ultra cool, couldn't care less cheerleader around him. The butterflies in her stomach wouldn't allow it.

They arrived at Quinn's class and Puck waved to her goodbye as he made his way off to the opposite side of the school. Quinn sat in math class trying to figure out quadratic equations, but finding herself preoccupied with too many thoughts. To be with Puck or to be alone? It was annoying Quinn to no end so she decided to try and focus on math. If she ever wanted to get out of Lima she needed good grades, and that meant that she had to learn how to ace quadratic equations. No thoughts of Puck or Mike or being single. They weren't going to be helping her get into a good college so she had to put all thoughts of that away and only thoughts of doing well in math could be at the forefront of her mind.

Matt and Rachel were the other members from Glee Club that were in her math class. Quinn, after spending half an hour doing her schoolwork and actually starting to get the lesson she lifted up her head and saw Matt staring at her intently. Quinn sighed. She knew that he had seen Puck walk her to class and his brain must have been swimming with ideas on why the two had become so close lately. The lie Quinn had previously told him was not lining up. Quinn had to think of something to tell Matt so that he wouldn't run and tell Mike that Puck and her had been hooking up when he was in China. That would devastate Mike and it wasn't even true! Quinn hadn't wanted to think about it but it was clear that she had to do something. After a moment she figured out a plan that had a slight chance of working.

it required Quinn taking out her cell phone and texting Rachel however. She sent her a message saying: _Come over here but don't make it obvious that I asked you to._ She pressed the send button on her phone and looked at Rachel. She saw the girl secretly look at her phone, read the message, and put it back in her schoolbag. Rachel then stood up and walked over to Quinn with her math textbook in hand so she could pretend to ask Quinn for some help.

"Hi Quinn," The annoyance greeted, "You look nice today. Your ponytail is much higher than usual."

Quinn wanted to puke. Rachel's fake nice act grossed her out terribly. She motioned for Rachel to lean in closer and when the girl did as such she whispered, "Do me this favour and you won't owe me anymore. You can't ask any questions though, or tell anyone I told you to do this. Tell Matt that you forced Puck and I into practicing vocal techniques for Glee Club together. Make it casual though so he doesn't think I told you to say it."

Rachel contemplated what Quinn had asked of her and finally nodded her head. "Fine, I'll do it. And then you'll keep my secret as well, right?"

Quinn nodded her head and Rachel seemed relieved. The girl went back to her seat and Quinn felt more comfortable. Matt wouldn't suspect there was anything up with her and puck other than Glee and she could break up with Mike without having him think that Puck had anything to do with it. The plan couldn't fail.

After school there was a rehearsal for Glee Club. They had previously won Sectional's before Christmas Break but Quinn had to admit that she hadn't been as excited about it as she thought she would. She was starting to agree with Mercedes and hated how she never seemed to get a solo. Finn and Rachel got to sing everything! Quinn was lucky to have a line or two in a song on rare occasions.

Quinn was one of the first people in the rehearsal room. Leizel and Sam were in the corner talking about one matter or another while Kurt tried to teach Brittany how to tie her shoelaces, to no avail. Quinn sat in one of the empty seats by the front. She waited for the rest of the members to come in and as she did she received a text message. She saw that it was from Rachel and instantly knew that it had to do with the Matt predicament. Quinn read: _I told Matt. He bought it and said that it explained a lot :)_ Quinn was thankful that Matt was no longer suspicious and had to admit that Rachel had been a big help, even if she had to blackmail the girl in order for her to do it.

More of the kids started trailing into the room. Puck walked in and took the seat next to Quinn. She was happy, but worried that maybe everyone was starting to suspect that they were spending too much time together. However she couldn't just not talk to the boy and have him be mad at her so she smiled sweetly at him and said, "Hey."

"I don't have my car today," Puck explained, "Mind giving me a drive home?"

Quinn shook her head. "I don't mind. What happened to your truck?"

"My mom's car is in the shop so she took my truck to get to work."

Quinn nodded and told him that she could drive him home. However, in her mind she knew that she would have to find a way to distract Matt at the end of rehearsal. He wouldn't believe what Rachel had told him if he saw Puck getting into Quinn's car. She quickly took out her cell phone and texted Rachel, who was in the room but huddled in the corner giggling with Finn. Quinn wanted to gag at their interactions but she had to contain herself while she still needed Rachel's help. _Distract Matt at the end of Glee Club for five minutes. Then our deal is officially over. Promise. _Quinn saw Rachel detach herself from Finn to take out her phone which was buzzing and look at the message. She locked eyes with Quinn and gave her a wink, signalling to her that she was down with the plan.

Quinn was now able to focus solely on Puck. They still had time to kill as Mercedes had told them that she had seen Mr. Schue flirting with Ms. Pillsbury. That always seemed to take his mind off of Glee Club. It was nauseating how into each other the teachers were but couldn't admit their feelings to one another. Anyways, Quinn turned to Puck and asked him, "What did you do today?"

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "Skipped class for a bit to egg Carmel High with Finn and some of the other guys. Then there was lunch. The burritos in the cafeteria suck by the way. i actually went to english class and read the book we're supposed to be reading."

Quinn's face brightened up. It pleased her to know that Puck was actually taking something school related seriously. Sure, she loved him for his egghead self, but she wouldn't mind if he pulled his socks up and got more involved with his schoolwork. "What book is it?"

"The Good… no, _The Great Gatsby_," Puck answered, "The Daisy chick reminds me of you."

Quinn frowned. "She's a gold digger Puck! And a cheat! All she cares about is appearances… and she reminds you of _me_?"

Puck shook his head. "Well yeah but not because of that. She's blonde and everyone went on like she was the hottest shit on earth. That's why."

Quinn grinned. Though he hadn't put it in the most eloquent of terms, Puck had actually managed to be sweet. it was becoming a reoccurring theme throughout the past weeks. It was the type of thing that urged Quinn to be with Puck after she broke up with Mike.

"Thank you," She whispered, "But don't call me hot."

"Why not?" Puck asked, wondering why a girl who thrived on compliments would ever refuse one.

Quinn smirked. "You're always a jerk to the hot girls you date."

Puck gave her a smirk right back. "Haven't you ever heard of exceptions?"

Quinn nodded. "Thinking of making me one?"

"You already are one. Think I'd ever wait around for two freaking weeks not even kissing girls for girl but you?"

Quinn beamed and looked down at her feet. She could feel her cheeks blushing and didn't want Puck to see the effect that he had on her. However, the fact that she's not looking at him or that she doesn't have a snarky retort doesn't go unnoticed by the boy. He was pleased that by showing off his softer side he seemed to have won Quinn over.

Mr. Schuester arrived just before Puck could say anything else and got them right to work on practicing the choreography for the big group number they were preparing for Regionals. He seemed worried however that they didn't have their best male, or possible even best overall dancer with them and hadn't for two weeks. He was afraid that it would offset the balance between the choreography.

"Do you know when he's coming back Quinn?"

Quinn knew that the teacher didn't mean anything mean or rude by his question. He had simply asked her something that she knew the answer to. Still, it sent a sharp pain in Quinn's stomach. Everyone had gotten used to the idea of Mike and Quinn. They expected them to stay together for a long time. Quinn didn't want the whole club to be awkward when the break up occurred. Furthermore, Quinn knew that Puck had become jealous by the comment. Even though Quinn had constantly expressed her want to be with him and that she liked him, she knew that it still hurt Puck to know that Quinn still wasn't his. She still belonged to someone else. It was like last year all over agin except Finn had been replaced with Mike.

"Tomorrow," Quinn muttered, "So he'll be back to school on Monday."

Quinn didn't mention by that time they would no longer be a couple. She didn't mention how on Sunday she would be throwing all they had away and that the club would probably suffer for it.

Mr. Schue nodded and went back to directing everyone with the dance moves. It lasted for another half an hour before it was time for everyone to go home. Quinn went to retrieve her schoolbag and told Puck that they had to hurry up if he wanted a drive. She saw Rachel wink at her and then walk over to Matt where she unleashed a whole bunch of names Quinn could only assume were Broadway legends at the poor boy. Quinn quickly walked out of the choir room and had Puck follow. They made it to her car and out of the parking lot before Matt could even get out of Rachel's successful ruse.

As they drove home the pair poked fun of Finn's dance moves. Though the boy had comea long way from the beginning of the club when he couldn't dance and sing at the same time, Finn still needed a lot of work.

"Let's not make fun," Quinn said after a particularly mean comment from Puck, "He tries hard… even if that shows on his face constantly."

Puck laughs. "Whatever. Our star dancer is coming back tomorrow… you should be excited."

Quinn sighed and wanted to yell out in frustration. It was like Puck wasn't going to believe that she was going to break up with the boy unless she started having sex with him right there in the car. "Be quiet. You know I'm not looking forward to dumping him."

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "Breaking up with people is easy."

Quinn laughed out loud. "And you would know how exactly? I think you actually have to be in a relationship with the person to break up with them. Leaving a girl's bed in the middle of the night while she's asleep doesn't count."

Puck smirked back at Quinn and rested his head back. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure if Puck was being a jerk or if he had simply not thought that she would be hanging out with Mike the day she got back. She didn't want to jump to any conclusions though so she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Hanging out with Mike."

Puck nodded, seeming disappointed but not exactly mad. "Thought you were breaking up with him Sunday? You're going to be all over him tomorrow then tear his heart out the next day?"

Quinn was having trouble concentrating on driving when she constantly had to define herself or explain herself. However, Puck's comment had some merit to it. Quinn didn't want to pretend that all was fine if the next day she was going to end their relationship. It wouldn't seem right at all. "He just wants to see me. He's going to be tired so I'll only be hanging out for a bit, and I _am _breaking up with him. Get that through your thick skull Puckerman."

Quinn expected a fight to break out but was surprised when instead Puck somehow understood where she was coming from. He muttered a 'sorry' and leaned back further in his chair. Maybe he realized that all of the doubting he was doing of Quinn wasn't going to make him look any better in her eyes.

He turned the topic back around to Super Mario Brothers, a conversation that Quinn had always dreaded having back when she had been living with the boy. Quinn knew that Puck was a video game geek though so she indulged him the pleasure of discussing it with her. Well, only after she had learned how to block his rambles out completely from her mind. After she had accomplished that she didn't seem to have so much of a problem with it anymore. Sure, Quinn could name a million other things she would want to talk about but it was something that Puck liked, and she was trying to be a better listener.

When Quinn slowed down and parked in the driveway of Puck's house he managed to silence his video game talk. He turned in his seat to face Quinn and asked, "Did you want to cow in… hang out for a bit?"

Quinn thought it over. She had never seen Puck nervous to ask her, or anyone for that matter, to do something. He did seem a little uncomfortable to ask her to come inside though, as if he really thought he was the losing man between him and Mike and he was still fighting to win Quinn over. If Quinn were to be truthful with herself she would have to say that she did want to hang out more with Puck. He was fun, and when he wasn't talking about Super Mario Brothers, he did interest her. Still, there was a thought that was bugging Quinn at the back of her mind. She had to address the problem.

"Is your mother home?" Quinn could have answered the question for herself. She saw Puck's truck in the driveway and unless he had come up with a ruse to get her to drive him home, his mother was inside the house that very moment.

Puck seemed to know where she was heading with her question. He also knew she wasn't stupid enough not to notice his truck right in front of them. "You two have to stop hating each other. It's stupid. She's my mom and you're… well you know what you are."

Quinn looked straight ahead, not knowing if she should tell Puck something she had held back from him for so long. She was afraid that he wouldn't care, or that he wouldn't believe her. What she had been holding back had hurt her so terribly and if Puck didn't care about it at all then it would hurt her more than it had originally. Quinn finally decided to tell him, but she didn't dare look at him as she said it. "She called me a whore."

Puck was silent for a second. He had to think about what Quinn was saying. He had been around both girls as his mother had made snide comments to Quinn, but they had never been that straightforward or mean. Most of them had simply come out of her being disappointed in her son. He had never heard his mother say things so hateful about Quinn herself. He had heard his mother say that Quinn had ruined her son's life, or that Jewish girls never make mistakes so big, things of that nature, but nothing so rude as calling her a whore. Puck stumbled on his words at first and had to clear his throat. "Wh- wh - what did she say?"

Quinn's eyes looked up tot he ceiling of the car, a trick to try and send her tears back down from where they had came from. "Don't make me say it again. I was just sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. You were in the shower. She didn't like that my dress was showing off my baby bump even though I told her that it was impossible for me to cover it up by that point. Then she told me that if I wasn't a whore I wouldn't have had to worry about those types of things."

Puck could see a tear fall from Quinn's eyes. He had never known that his mother had said such a thing. Even though she was his mother he knew he was on Quinn's side without a doubt in his mind. He was uncomfortable however as he didn't deal well with crying chicks. Instead of comforting Quinn with a hug he simply told her, "She was mad at me. I screwed up but I'm her kid so she just blamed you. She doesn't think anything like that about you."

Quinn sniffled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah because it was only a one time thing right?"

Puck slumped back into the seat of the car. "No, but I know that it was me she was pissed at. You were just an easier target for her. I… I could talk to her if you want?"

Quinn shook her head and finally turned to look at Puck. "No, don't. It's over with. She said what she said and that's it. She's your mom so I don't want you two getting in a fight. I just never want to be around her again."

Puck nodded his head, understanding where Quinn was coming from. He thanked her for the ride, told him to call her if she wanted to, and got out of the car and walked into his house. Quinn wiped her tears away with a tissue and drive off to her house. She didn't know if telling Puck what his mother had told her would make things awkward between them or somehow stronger with having no secrets.

Later that night while Quinn was hanging out with Mercedes and Kurt for a _Mean Girls_ and _Heathers_ movie session she received a text from Puck. It read: _You're not a whore_ Though Quinn never had any worries about being one, and she knew that Mrs. Puckerman was just a bitter, stubborn woman she knew why Puck was saying what he had. He wanted to make sure that Quinn knew that he didn't agree with his mother, and though he hadn't put it eloquently Quinn still thought it sweet.

On Saturday Quinn went over to Mike's house in the late afternoon. He was absolutely thrilled to see her and Quinn tried to play it off like she was happy to see him as well, but that she wasn't over the moon. She didn't want to act like they were a perfect couple and then shock him the next day. Mike told her all about China, and Quinn filled him in on what was happening in Glee and around the school. She tried to be brief in her comments and not seem so animated while talking. Mike asked her if she wanted to go out for dinner but Quinn knew she couldn't do that at all if she was to go through with her plan. Thus Quinn told Mike that she had a big project and went home, leaving him with only a friendly kiss on the cheek. Quinn was positive that Mike had to think that something was up with her.

Sunday came faster than Quinn wanted it to. She knew what she had to do but she had no desire to actually do it. Mike was such a sweet guy and she by no means wanted to hurt him. She prayed to God that he would take the news as good as one could possibly take it and that she would be able to deliver it as sweetly as she could. At twelve o' clock Quinn called Mike and asked him if she could go over to his house to talk for a bit. Mike agreed quickly and Quinn grabbed her purse and drove off to the Chang household.

On the ride over to Mike's house Quinn kept repeating to herself: _You can do this. You're strong. You can do this. _It didn't make her anymore convinced, but it did help with her nerves and the butterflies that had started living in her stomach.

When she reached her destination, Quinn parked on the end of the street and walked up the door. She rang the doorbell and awaited an answer. Mike came to the door, opened it, and invited his girlfriend inside, not suspecting anything that was to come. That made Quinn feel even worse. She had wanted him to expect the break up, even a little bit. At least then he would have prepared himself for it a little bit.

Mike led Quinn upstairs to his room and sat down on his bed. Quinn sat on his desk chair after rolling it over closer to the bed. She crossed her arms around her chest after not knowing what to do them and decided that she had to rip the bandage off. "I have to tell you something."

Mike still didn't get the hint. He smiled at the blonde cheerleader who he would describe as 'perfect' and asked, "What's up?"

"Mike," She said in a more serious tone, "You are _such _a nice guy… but-"

There. He got the hint. As soon as he heard the 'but' in Quinn's statement Mike knew where the conversation was going. He interrupted Quinn before she could finish what she wanted to say. He shook his head and said, "No. Don't do this Quinn."

Quinn felt the tears coming but she tried her damnedest to hold them back. She had to go through with this. Tears would make her weak and stop the whole thing. Quinn went on. "Mike, please, let me finish. You are a really nice guy but I don't think that this what either of us want, or what either of us need. I like you a lot, but sometimes that isn't enough."

Mike stared at Quinn as if he was analyzing her. Quinn felt awkward but Mike kept staring at her. She sighed and cried, "Say something!"

"It's him. Isn't it," Mike asked, "You're leaving me for fucking Puckerman."

Quinn's mouth hung open slightly, not knowing how Mike could have guessed. She tried to explain her situation. She needed Mike to understand because she didn't want to lose him as a friend. "Mike, honestly don't you think that through this we've always just been friends?"

Mike shook his head instantly and looked angered at Quinn's comment. His voice was harsh as well. "No," He told her with a fury in his voice that Quinn had never though he could manage, "We weren't just friends ever and you know that's crap. Friends don't date for four months. Friends don't _do_ the things that we did Quinn. I know you liked me. Stop being scared and making this out like it was nothing. It _was_ fucking something and you know it." He punched his bed a couple of times to get the frustration out.

Quinn felt three tears fall out of her eyes. She wiped them away quickly. "I never wanted to hurt you… and I didn't plan this. I liked you so much, and I have so much fun with you, but things change. I still want to be friends. It's cliche as hell but it _isn't_ you. In this case it's me that changed."

Mike couldn't look the blonde in the eyes anymore. Quinn was hurt by that. It was as if he was disgusted to look at her. Quinn sat on the chair and waited for him to say something. It didn't take long. "I thought I was starting to fall in love you."

Quinn wanted to burst into tears because she knew that if Puck didn't exist that she would have fallen in love with Mike as well. She didn't want to bruise his ego though so she refrained from telling him that. "Mike you are the greatest guy ever-"

He interrupted her again. "Then what's the problem? If i'm so great then why does this have to be over?"

Quinn's bottom lip quivered as she searched for the words to say. She didn't want to say the real reason. She thought it would hurt him too much. However, Mike finished his question for her. "Puck, right? That's why this is ending?"

For once Quinn decided to be brave and tell Mike the truth. "Yes," She confirmed, "I think I'm in love with him again. It was after we visited Beth. Old feelings came back."

Mike looked equally sad and mad as clenched the sheets on his bed with his fist. "You cheated on me?"

Quinn knew that she couldn't tell mike the truth about the kiss she had shared with Puck no matter what. He didn't need to know that. It would only cause unnecessary hurt. "No. Just by talking again I realized that I want to give him another chance."

Mike looked at Quinn in the eye after avoiding her glance for the last few minutes. Quinn nervously rolled to and fro on the chair. "He's going to be a jerk to you. He always is. You can't change him Quinn."

Quinn didn't want to hear what Mike was telling her. She may have had her doubts about Puck but she didn't need anyone else making her feel like she was making the wrong choice. "i don't think that's true, but if it is," Quinn explained, "Then I made a big mistake and I'll have to live with that for a long time."

Mike rubbed his temple with his fingers as if he was contemplating something. After a moment he decided to let his frustrations out. "You're a tennis ball Quinn. Always bouncing from one guy to the next, One day you're going to end up alone and you're not going to know what to do with yourself. Now get out."

Quinn wanted to stay and talk things out but was aware that it wasn't a good idea to argue with Mike after what she had done to him. She silently got up and walked out of his house. Once she was in her car she started crying. Breaking up with Mike had been hard, but she had never expected him to react the way he had. She thought that he was an easygoing guy that still would have wanted to be friends. Now he was gone forever and Quinn was going to miss him so much. He had become one of her closest friends. It was all her fault.

And Mike was added to the list of people who felt that she had relationship issues. Quinn looked in her rearview mirror at her reflection and asked herself, "Why can't I be single?" The thought scared her, and that's when Quinn realized that she had a problem. Mike, Mercedes, and her mom were right. She was never going to be able to be in a relationship successfully until she was fine with being by herself. But that meant no Puck. That meant a chance of him moving on and never wanting her back. She didn't know if she could do it. However, that just fuelled her conclusion that she needed to be single. She needed to be okay with being by herself. She had to do this for herself, no matter how much it was going to hurt.

Quinn quickly called Puck up and told him to meet up with her at a local coffee shop. She stressed that she needed to talk to him about something important. After hanging up Quinn took a deep breath, prepared herself for what she was about to do, and started off in the direction of the coffee shop.

Once she got there Quinn saw that Puck was already sitting at a table with two drinks. One was obviously for her. She walked over to this table and sat down. She smiled at him meekly and said, "Thank you for the coffee."

Puck waved her thanks off and raised his eyebrows suggestively. "You finally single?"

Quinn nodded, took another deep breath and told him, "Yes… and that's how it's going to be for a while."

Puck's forehead scrunched in confusion. Quinn took a sip of coffee casually. Puck raised an eyebrow at Quinn, this time not suggestively but asking her to explain. "What are you talking about?"

"I know I said that we could be together," Quinn told Puck making sure that her voice was confident but sympathetic, "And I really did want that. But everyone keeps stressing to me the fact that I'm always in a relationship. I always need to be with someone. That's not healthy. I need to learn to be happy single. Otherwise I'm going to kill myself one day when I find myself alone and not knowing what to do with myself. I still want to be with you… but it can't be for a while."

"So like in two weeks?" Puck asked, hoping that Quinn wasn't actually being serious with her whole female empowerment speech.

Unfortunately for him Quinn shook her head. "i don't know how long but it'll be longer than two weeks. A lot longer. I'm not asking you to wait for me. You can date whoever you want. I need to do this for myself. Once I know I'm ready I'd love to be with you… if you still want me. If you don't, well at least I'll be used to being single."

Puck didn't know exactly what to say to Quinn. he took a sip of his coffee and shook his head rapidly in case this had all been a dream. He was supposed to be with the girl. He wasn't supposed to wait even longer to have her. Puck soon realized that it was _not_ a dream. "You're serious about this?" He asked.

Quinn nodded and folded her hands on the table. "I need to do it. I know you don't understand it… but _please_ respect it."

Puck had heard those words before and he had felt just as lousy after them as he did now. He rubbed his eye with his hand. "I might not want to be your boyfriend in a few months you know? I might want to be a bachelor for life."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "That's your call. I love you Puck, and I will once I'm ready to date again. I'm not doing this because I don't love you. When I'm ready to be with someone I'll see if you want to be with me. If you don't then I'll be hurt but I'll understand."

Puck still didn't get why Quinn was becoming such a femi nazi all of the sudden but he knew how stubborn the girl was and that she wasn't going to change his mind. At least she had said that she loved him. That made him feel better, and also she said he could date whoever he wanted. She wasn't expecting him to sit around with blue balls like she had for the past couple of weeks which was actually really cool of her. Still, he was going to ask one last time. "And you're absolutely sure of this?"

Quinn nodded. "One hundred percent positive. But I still want to be friends when I'm figuring things out. Can you do that?"

Puck shrugged. "Maybe. Probably. You're kind of a hard girl to quit cold turkey."

Quinn laughed and the two continued to sit at the table and talk as friends. Of course there were still feelings there, but for the moment Quinn and Puck were going to be just friends. Quinn knew that what she was doing was a big disappointment for Puck so she allowed him to talk about video games for a full fifteen minutes straight without interrupting him. She also let him dip his hands a little lower than he should have when they hugged goodbye, but that was only because it was the closest he was going to get anything like that for months.

The blonde Cheerio was now on her way to becoming an independent woman. She knew it sounded lame and cheesy but it was what she needed to do. Plus, what kind of head bitch in charge always needs a man by her side?

_Author's Note: (Please Read! This one is majorly important!)_

_ Okay so don't worry, even though last chapter I said this would be the end of the story it isn't! I had to make a choice on whether or not to completely fast forward the two weeks of Mike being in China and completely fast forwarding past the months where Quinn is going to be on her own discovering how to be happy single and I realized I couldn't do it. I needed to put more detail in the situations so I decided to make this story another chapter long. So next chapter will be the last chapter. This way there's a lot more story and more character development. You also see things progress more whereas in my previous plan I was skipping past important parts._

_ Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've gotten it out faster than I have the previous couple of chapters and it's longer than those ones so yay! I will again try to be faster with writing the next chapter! Hopefully I can keep it going!_

_ Also, thank you to everyone who is reviewing, or setting this story or myself to their favourites or alerts! You all rock and totally make my day! Every time I get an e-mail from fanfiction saying that someone has reviewed the story I have a big smile on my face!_

_ Now, last chapter I asked what you thought of a Jesse/Quinn story and the response was an overwhelming no. Haha, I'm going to take it as a compliment that you all just love my Puck/Quinn stories but it has hit me with an interesting dilemma. Quinn/Puck are my favourite pairing but I do want to write something new and I also really like Jesse/Quinn together. So do I stick with these lovely fans that read my stories, review them, put them to alerts, etc. or do I do I write what I really want to? _

_ I've come to a solution that I think will satisfy people. _

_ I am going to move ahead an do the Quinn/Jesse story but I know that basically all of my readers aren't going to read that. Therefore I will also be writing another Puck/Quinn story but it's going to have some fan involvement! Is there a story brewing in your mind about Puck/Quinn that you'd love someone to write about? Even a simple idea floating around your mind? If so leave your idea in a review! You can make your idea as detailed or as simple as you would like. It can also be a story that follows the show or it could be an AU story much like this one is with the Mike/Quinn pairing._

_I will then use a random generator website to decide which idea I will write about! Therefore everyone has a fair chance of their idea being the selected one! I think it's a fair deal. I still get to write my Jesse/Quinn story but I don't disappoint you lovely readers either and I give you the chance to have your dream story written! I will announce which idea is the winner in next chapter's author's note so make sure to get your idea in on time (I would say within the next 5 days to be safe!)._

_ I'm actually really excited about that sort of 'contest' and I can't wait to read your ideas!_

_ Now, have you guys also heard the rumour that 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' is going to be sung on this season of Glee? I've heard some rumblings about that and I'm so excited about that! I really hope that Puck sings it about Quinn, much like I wrote it in this story! It really is such a perfect song for them, but I could also see Artie singing it about Tina moving on with Mike as it seems is what is happening based on the new promos._

_ Finally, if you have the time I would greatly appreciate if you could review this chapter :) Writers take a lot of time and great effort to write their stories and reviews rally make it all worth while! It can be a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or an essay! Any comments or suggestions are welcome and they make my day! :)_

_ Don't forget to leave your ideas for your dream Quinn/Puck story! _

_ And again I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

_ Until next time,_

_ Happy Reading! :)_


	8. I'm Dying to Know How Much You Care

It had been a month since Quinn had told Puck that she needed time to herself. She thought that the time would have passed slower than anything she had ever experienced, but she had been pleasantly surprised about how fast the time had actually gone by in. She also had a lot of time for herself now which was a welcome change. Worrying about boys had become a huge hassle. The Mike - Puck drama had gotten so out of control that by the end of it Quinn had questioned everything about her life. It was nice to have free time in which she could reflect on herself and the choices she had been making.

The first day back at school Mike had expected to see Quinn and Puck walk into school with their tongues down each other's throats. He hadn't expected to see them sitting on opposite ends of the room during the Glee Club meeting and he set to figure out what the reasoning behind it was. Only a day ago had Quinn told him that she was leaving him for Puck as she was in love with him again. Quinn knew that the question was going to come up. It was only natural for Mike to be curious about such a thing.

When the meeting had ended and the kids started piling out of the classroom Mike had tapped Quinn on the shoulder and as she turned her head around he asked, "Single?"

It wasn't much of a question, but Quinn guessed that he didn't want to seem to concerned. After all, she had broke the guy's heart and he probably didn't want anything to do with her at the moment. Quinn nodded back at him. "I've decided to try it out for a while." That was it. No more explanations but somehow Mike understood what Quinn was trying to get across to him.

Quinn walked out to her car and saw that Puck had parked right beside her. He was unlocking it with his key and Quinn walked over to him. "Hey," She told him.

Puck waved to her. He was being polite, but it was obvious that it was hurting him that Quinn wasn't with him. Quinn frowned at the way things were going. She had hoped to still be friends with Puck during her time as a single girl. However, she now knew she would have to make the bulk of the effort.

"How was your day?" It was a simple, non offensive question. Puck couldn't make it uncomfortable to answer.

He shrugged his shoulders. Apparently his skills at making things awkward were better than Quinn had imagined. "It was fine," He answered, "How was your day being single and free?"

Quinn bit her lip, knowing that Puck was trying to inflict guilt unto her. She sighed at the foolishness of it all and forced herself to smile. "It was easier than I expected it to be."

Puck nodded, and got into his car. He reversed out of his parking spot and drove away. The old Quinn would have stressed about the situation all night and worried that Puck would never love her ever again. Luckily the old Quinn was gone. The new Quinn refused to get upset over something so miniscule. Puck needed time to process the idea that a girl wasn't dying to be with him, and she needed to be on her own. She would worry about Puck wanting to be with her when the time came around. At the moment she was only concerned with going home to catch up on all of her homework, and to choreograph a Cheerio's routine that Coach Sylvester had asked her to refine.

Quinn had known that the first day of being back at school was bound to be awkward. Luckily for her things started to become easier. It turned out that though Mike was still upset over the whole situation, he was taking it better than was originally thought. He definitely didn't want to be spending any quality time with Quinn, but he wasn't making things uncomfortable in Glee Club. In fact, he didn't even throw a hissy fit when Mr. Schue paired them up in choreography for one of the group numbers. He was mature about the situation. Sure, he refused to say more than two words to Quinn, but he wasn't being mean or trying to recruit people to his side of the breakup.

Puck also started to warm up to her. It wasn't a fast track friendship, but after about a month of being single he started to accept that he could still be friends with Quinn without actually dating her.

The pivotal moment had happened during a basketball game. If the school won the game they would enter the playoffs, something that had never happened to them in all of their sports team history, not including cheerleading. The score was tied and there was only fifteen seconds on the clock. Quinn was cheering from the sidelines with the rest of the Cheerios'. She became her peppiest, cheering on the boys. Puck stole the ball and darted to the opposing side. With five seconds left on the clock his knees bent, his arms outstretched and the ball sunk its way into the basket.

Puck started jumping up and down as he screamed out his excitement. The rest of the team started jumping on top of each other as they huddled in a group circle. The Cheerio's were going crazy, this had never happened to the high school before. Playoffs were a huge deal. Once the circle of basketball players had spread out, Puck ran out and wrapped Quinn into a hug, lifting her up.

She smiled. She was pumped up with the excitement of the team winning, but also with how sudden and unexpected this interaction was. She wrapped her arms around Puck and yelled, "You were amazing!"

"Damn straight," He told her as he placed her back down on the ground, "Come with me and the guys to get pizza."

Quinn nodded her head. "For sure." She rounded up the other Cheerio's and the two groups made their way out to the parking lot where they assembled into groups to drive to the local pizza parlour. Quinn was very pleased with the prospect that Puck was going to be able to be friends with her now. She was driving Brittany and Santana and they were gossiping about Rachel Berry, which was always a favourite past time of the girls.

"Do you think they have sex? Her and Finn?" Santana asked after a particularly mean comment she had made about Rachel's physical appearance.

Brittany scrunched up her nose. "Ew, that's gross Santana."

Quinn snickered. "I bet she does it with those disgusting animal sweaters on."

The girls broke into giggles and Quinn knew she was being mean but who really cared? Normal teenage girls make fun of other girls and her whole philosophy on life was to be as normal as possible. If that meant gossiping then Quinn would simply have to do it.

"If they're not doing it then she isn't missing out on much," Santana said slyly, "Trust me."

Quinn's mouth dropped as she turned the corner. "You didn't!"

Santana proudly nodded. "Yeah he gave up the big V to me," She explained, trying to sound as bored and uninterested as possible, "Finn's a good guy, but so boring. It transfers into the bedroom."

Quinn didn't know how she felt about the new revelation. She was completely over Finn, but she was kind of upset that he had lost his virginity to Santana. Not that she was jealous or anything, it was more that she was mad at Santana for obviously pressuring him into something that he wasn't ready for. Though Quinn hated the girl more than she hated people bringing up her pregnancy, she knew that it would have been best for Finn to lose his virginity to Rachel. That's who he had wanted to lose it with, Quinn knew it and she was mad that Santana had screwed everything up for what was bound to be a stupid reason.

"Don't be mean,." Quinn warned, "Finn's off limits for bashing in this car."

"Is this just because you feel guilty about lying to him about him being the father of the baby?" Santana snottily asked.

"Wait - Finn wasn't the father?" Brittany voiced in her ditzy and airy voice.

Quinn rolled her eyes and ignored the last comment. "No, we just aren't going to make fun of Finn. End of story. Trash Rachel all you want if it's any consolation."

"Her nose is too big for her face." Santana noted.

Brittany nodded. "She looks like belongs in an orphanage."

Quinn relaxed back into her seat as she continued driving to Carl's Pizza. Once they arrived the trio of girls walked into the restaurant to see that half of the Cheerio's and basketball team were already there. They had already ordered massive amounts of pizza. Puck waved Quinn over to him. She hurried off to him.

"Hey superstar." She greeted and he basked in the glory of being the hero for the team. Quinn sat down to the seat that Puck had obviously saved for her.

"I can't take all of the credit. That cheerleading had to have helped some." Puck took a slice of pepperoni pizza and placed it on the plate in front of Quinn. She smiled and took a bite of the slice. Quinn turned to face Puck. "Think you have a shot at playoffs?"

Puck laughed. "Hell no. We're lucky to get this far. But it's still cool... we;'e never won more than one game before. Plus, it's nice being the hero. I've never been the hero."

"Too used to playing the villain?" Quinn teased.

"Something like that." Puck turned his attention to Finn who had tapped him on the shoulder. They reenacted a play that had been made in the game earlier. Quinn laughed along with the other teenagers and noticed that Mike was off in the corner laughing at a private joke with Vanessa, a Cheerio a grade below them. Quinn was happy for Mike that he was moving on with his life, but she had to admit that sparks of jealousy were starting to appear. She knew she didn't want to be with Mike. That had been well-established, but it was hard to see him move on with his life. Not terribly hard, but it did hurt. She really had cared for him. In the end though, Quinn knew all was for the best. Mike needed to be with a girl who deserved him. One that was as crazy for him as he was for her. And Quinn, she deserved to be happy. She was beginning to formulate how to be happy while single. It wasn't hard. It was actually pretty easy. Especially when Puck was being nice as he was at the moment and was actually talking to her.

Puck went back to eating his slice of pizza and asked Quinn, "How's life been going for you?"

Quinn smiled. "It's been good. Kurt and I have been making a whole bunch of trips to the mall, and Mercedes is happy that we're spending time together every weekend. I think she was really missing me sleeping over at her house."

Puck nodded at what Quinn said and replied, "So the single life is going good?"

"It is. I mean, I actually realized that I can be happy without having any arm candy. I can walk into this pizza parlour and not have to sit down with a guy and be fawned over. I did sit beside you though so I guess that wasn't the best example... except I could move and sit beside someone else and not have it be a problem at all. That's a new accomplishment."

Puck laughed at Quinn and said as nicely as possible, "You're pretty pathetic."

Quinn knew that Puck wasn't being mean. "I know... but this is all a good thing. How has life been with you? You probably have a whole bunch of interesting stories to tell."

Puck shook his head. "Not really. Just been playing basketball and being in glee club. Then the regular parties and everything. Nothing special."

"What," Quinn coyly asked, "No girls?"

Puck didn't say anything, instead he took his eyes off of Quinn and looked down at the plate in front of him on the table. Quinn knew what the silence meant. She wasn't surprised, she had known that Puck wasn't going to last months upon months of not getting action, but like seeing Mike with Vanessa, it did manage to hurt her a tad and have feelings of jealousy appear.

"It's okay," Quinn reassured, "You're allowed to hook up with girls. We're not together."

Puck nodded his head, glad she wasn't going to be angry with him. "I'm a sex shark. If I stop moving I die." It was a practiced line that he had used often. Puck wasn't sure if it even seemed genuine anymore.

Quinn gave him a smile at his comment and tried to removed the tension by changing the subject, "You were really great out there tonight. You turned me into a groupie with all the screaming and cheering I was doing."

Puck smirked. "I thought cheerleaders were groupies naturally."

"Please, we're groupies for you guys? It should be the other way around. I mean, we're the only team in the school capable of winning competitions."

"That's about to change." Puck pointed out.

The night had gone on in a similar fashion. Puck and Quinn had joked around and talked for a while longer before Puck was pulled into a conversation with a couple of the guys and Quinn went back to Santana and Brittany who were reenacting a cheer they had performed at the game. Quinn was only to happy to accompany them with it.

Since that night the tension had been broken with Puck and Quinn. They felt more comfortable texting each other, or starting up a conversation in Glee Club. They were at the place that Quinn wanted them to be in. Friends. That's all she needed them to be at the moment... or so she thought. Quinn was in for a rude awakening almost exactly two months of managing to be single.

It all started when Quinn had gone over to Kurt's house to watch some movies with him and Mercedes. They had planned to watch 'Fast times at Ridgemont High' which Kurt had described as quite possibly the best high school movie ever made. Before the movie began however, Mercedes felt the need to share a bit of gossip.

"Did you hear about the new couple alert?" She asked Kurt and Quinn with a smile as she filled a big bowl up with freshly made popcorn. Both of the teenagers shook their heads. Mercedes shot another smile, happy to be the first out of them to have heard the news. "Puck and Santana are dating... again."

Kurt put his hand of his mouth, surprised at the news while Quinn felt like someone had just stabbed her with a knife in the gut. Puck... and Santana? How could it be? They had gone through the song and dance routine so much that she would have thought that they were done with one another for good. Plus, this wasn't some random girl that he was hooking up with, Puck was dating a girl he had serious history with. Quinn started to panic as the wheels started turning in her head. What if he started to fall in love with Santana and didn't want to get back together with her when she was ready for a relationship? Her whole plan had been based around the fact that she was sure that although Puck was going to hook up with girls, he was never actually going to get serious with any. Her plans had obviously hit a fork in the road. Quinn no longer wanted to be at Kurt's house, about to watch some stupid movie. She wanted to call Puck as soon as possible and figure out the details of the situation.

The pain Quinn was feeling was painted clear as day on her face. Mercedes noticed and frowned. "I'm sorry Quinn. I wasn't trying to rub it in your face or anything... I thought you were over the douche."

"I am," Quinn asserted, "I'm single for a reason. But you guys know that I wanted to be with him once I had this whole single thing under control. Now he's dating Santana and I've missed my shot."

"I never got why you made that plan up," Kurt confessed while getting out mineral water (the only kind of water he allowed to touch his lips) for the trio to drink, "I mean, I get the whole staying single plan; female empowerment, whoo hoo! But, how was it fair that you had to be single and he got to hump anything with a pulse?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Because he isn't the one with the problem, it's me. I needed to figure things out for myself and I couldn't have him pining for me hoping every single morning that it would be the day that i decide to stop being single. Now it doesn't seem as good of a plan as I originally thought it was."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and sat down on the stool in front of the counter top. "I get that he was your baby daddy and all Quinn but what do you really see in the guy besides a hot face and a set of abs?"

Quinn sighed. This conversation was something she had been tired of answering. No one understood what she saw in Puck and it didn't matter to Quinn. They could think she was an idiot for loving him, but in the end she still would. They were good for each other. "Mercedes, let's not get into some stupid argument. Puck and I get each other. We're not those mean shallow people we usually are when we're with each other. I just know I'm supposed to be with him. Isn't that enough?"

Before Mercedes could answer Kurt did so himself. "Yes," He said, "It's enough and Mercedes should know not to bother you with it anymore."

Mercedes put her hands up and said, "Okay, fine I'll drop it. I'm just trying to look out for you though. You know that, right Quinn?"

Quinn nodded. "You're a good friend. But you'd be an even better one if you could accept Puck for me."

Mercedes stood up and started to walk to the living room where the three were going to be watching the movie. "I will. But don't forget that he's not yours right now. He's someone else's."

Quinn knew that Mercedes was right and it made her upset throughout the whole movie. She laughed during parts, and tried to make it seem like she was happy, but she couldn't stop feeling worried that she had lost Puck forever to Santana out of all people. It stung.

After the movie was over Kurt demanded to try out some new face creams on Quinn and Mercedes as his skin was to delicate for him to use products on it without seeing results on other guinea pigs first. The girls complied as they knew the skin care routines were no doubt top of the line and expensive so it was really a win-win situation. As Kurt applied a dark green face mask onto Quinn's skin he asked her, "I don't know how you're doing it."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "I mean it stinks a little bit, but not as much as that egg and honey hair treatment you made me try last time."

Kurt laughed. "Not about the face cream! I meant about staying single. I lasted sixteen years of being single but then again it wasn't by choice. Not that Sam and I are somewhat together I can't imagine going back to being single."

Quinn smiled. "I thought it was going to be really hard. I thought I was going to run to Puck and beg him to forgive me or run to Make and beg for him to take me back. I needed to do it though, and it's actually not so bad. It's really relaxing, and at least now I know I can do it. Before I thought I would melt or crumble into a thousand pieces if I didn't have a boyfriend."

Kurt nodded. "So if you know you can do it why don't you steal Puck away from Santana?"

Quinn shivered at the coldness of the face mask. She also tried not to breath through her nose as the smell was becoming increasingly unpleasant. "It's too soon," Quinn told him. "It hasn't even been three months yet. It's not that I need more time... I want more time right now. I'm not ready to jump back into things. I need to be single for a bit longer. Plus, I could steal Puck away from Santana any day."

Quinn wasn't certain what she had said was true, but she had to pretend that she thought it was. She couldn't let anyone know that she was even a teensy bit threatened by Santana. After some more gossip and talk amongst Quinn, Kurt, and Mercedes, Quinn told them that she needed to be home. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend any more time with her friends, but it was more that she had been carrying around the news that Puck and Santana were dating the whole night and needed some time to think it over alone. On the car ride home Quinn kept having images of the two together and she couldn't help but have her heart race and succumb to her feelings of jealousy. Santana didn't care about Puck. Puck didn't care about Santana. Still, they were always getting back together and they even seemed to be able to remain friends when they were apart. Obviously there were some feelings there, and that made Quinn even more jealous.

She wasn't envious or upset when she had heard stories of Puck and dozens of other girls. It was just this one girl in particular. Santana and Quinn were always fighting over everything. They had even been rivals in kindergarden when they fought over who was the better finger painter or who got to play with the pink toy pony. Quinn realized that she had finally gone insane when she found herself driving down Puck's street without even remembering how she had arrived there. Her jealousy was becoming an issue but she needed to see if Santana and him were together at that moment.

Unluckily for Quinn as soon as she passed Puck's house she saw that Santana's car was parked on the side of the street. Quinn rolled her eyes. It figured. However, she had to keep reminding herself, she couldn't be mad at Puck for anything. He wasn't doing anything wrong. Still, Quinn wanted to know more about the situation. She wanted to know how serious this "relationship" with Santana meant to Puck. So Quinn parked a few streets away from Puck's house (so he couldn't look outside and see her and assume Quinn was now stalking him), and took out her cellphone from her purse. Quinn texted Puck a quick message. 'What's going on?' Quinn sent the text and waited for Puck to respond. The theory behind the text message was if Puck texted back quickly then obviously Santana wasn't important enough to ignore other girls while they were spending time together. However, if he didn't then Quinn would realize the truth.

Quinn turned the radio on to pass the time. She wasn't going to wait forever. Just a minute more. Okay, one more minute. So it was only three minutes since Quinn sent the text when she received one from Puck. She quickly opened it up to see what it said. 'Nothing right now. Why? Want to hang out?'

Quinn smiled. She was still important. She still mattered. She didn't know why she was so happy considering that no matter what Santana had been there that night, but the text had made her happy. So happy in fact that Quinn replied in a way she probably shouldn't have. "Sure. Meet me at the school?" It wasn't a hot spot in town, but it had the large bleachers beside the fields that many people had been known to hang out on at times when the weather wasn't so bad and there wasn't anywhere else to go.

Quinn quickly received another text message confirming the plans and she drove off in the direction of the high school. She got out of her car, it was pretty dark out, but the stadium lights were on and no one was around anyways. Quinn walked to the back field and sat down on one of the top bleachers. She waited seven minutes and then saw Puck walking towards her. He waved and walked up to the top bleacher and sat beside her.

"Hey," He told her, as he rubbed his hands together for warmth. It was Ohio, and the middle of winter which meant that cold water was a no brainer. Quinn returned the greeting and asked, "What's been going on with you?"

Puck shrugged his shoulders. "Just the regular hanging out... being a badass. Nothing major."

Quinn smirked. "I heard you were doing a lot more than that."

Puck's eyes hit the ground and he hung his head down low. "I told her not to make it Facebook official... everything becomes shitty when you do that."

Quinn looked above Puck's head over to the cars passing in front of the school. For a second she thought she had seen her dad's car passing by but it had been a smaller model than the one her father had previously had. Quinn didn't even know if he had the car now. Their relationship hadn't grown anymore since the divorce like Ms. Fabray had feared. "Facebook didn't out you guys. Mercedes told me. Maybe she found out on Facebook though... it's fine. Don't worry about it. I just wish you would have told me."

Puck raised an eyebrow at Quinn and looked at her in the eyes. "You would have wanted me to tell you?"

Quinn sighed. "Well, maybe not. I don't really know what I think of the whole situation. When did it even happen?"

Puck counted down on his fingers. Quinn didn't know if he was counting days, weeks, or worse, months. She hoped that it might possibly be hours but knew that couldn't be true. "Three weeks ago," Puck replied, "That's when we started hooking up again. Then yesterday she started saying that she wouldn't keep doing it unless we were a couple. She mentioned that Beyonce song too... you know, the one where they say 'put a ring on it' or something? It was pretty gay... but she's DTF so it seemed alright."

"DTF," Quinn sneered, "Please don't be trying to be like any of those guys on the 'Jersey Shore'. Please don't make me become embarrassed for you."

Puck laughed and leaned back on the bleachers to the poles enclosing it in. "Hey Pauly D is cool. The Situation's a douche, but we can't punish the cool dude cause of him."

Quinn nodded and pretended that Puck was saying something highly intelligent. She then went on to ask him something she hadn't planned on doing. Still, it was now on her mind and she had to get it out. "Do you think it's weird my dad hasn't called or tried to talk to me once since he kicked me out?"

Puck was not prepared for the question. He wasn't one for deep conversations. He wasn't expected to be that guy. Girls wanted him for one thing, and it wasn't his mind. He had become used to it but it seemed that Quinn wanted him to be more than what he was accustomed to. She wanted to know his opinions, and she cared about what he was thinking. She treated him differently than all of the other girls he knew. It was refreshing, and made him feel important. So, even though he didn't know how to answer the question the proper way, he sure as hell was going to give it a shot. "He's an asshole," Puck told Quinn while trying to make his voice as warm and comforting as possible, "He doesn't deserve to talk to you. You should be thanking him right now for not giving a shit."

It wasn't the answer Quinn was looking for, but she was touched that Puck had at least tried to answer the question for her. She felt a tear drop from her left eye. Even though she was used to her father ignoring her, it still hurt that he could care so little for his own daughter. Quinn looked at Puck and knew that even though he was only the biological father, he loved Beth more purely and unconditionally than Quinn's own father ever would of her.

"I didn't mean to make you cry."

Quinn shook her head and wiped the few tears coming down away. "You didn't. Thinking about him just makes me frustrated. I never told anyone this but... well I thought that once I wasn't pregnant and the baby was gone that he would forgive me and we could all be a family again. Now my parents are divorced and he doesn't even call to check to see if I'm still alive. I didn't think this was how my life was going to be like."

"I know," Puck whispered as he confessed, "I thought that maybe once the baby was born that my mom would stop staring at me like I had screwed up. She still does though, and I feel like shit. I thought she would stop being mad at the fact that you're not Jewish, but she still hates that Beth is part Christian. She acts like I'm not man of the house anymore. Like she can't count on me. Forget it... it's fucking stupid."

Quinn let out a few more tears and sniffled. "No it's not. It's honest. I wish things would have gone back to normal after I had Beth. Things were going fine for a while. Mike was nice, and I was head cheerleader. But now I'm single and Santana's becoming more popular by the second. Even worse I feel like crap inside. I wish I could go back to that day and say no. You don't know how many times a day I repeat that in my head."

"If you had said no there wouldn't have been an us." Puck pointed out as he looked out onto the football field. He couldn't face looking at Quinn and seeing the shame in her eyes over being with him.

"My family would still be together. People would still fear me without remembering how much of a loser I had been months ago. I wouldn't feel so empty. It's nothing against you. It's just me wanting to be able to feel better about myself."

Puck nodded, starting to understand at least a little bit of what Quinn was telling him. "Do you always feel empty?"

Quinn looked up at the dark sky. At least twelve stars were visible, a rare feat in Lima. She smiled at the beauty and then looked back at Puck. "Not all of the time... only when shitty things happen. Like when my dad didn't call on Christmas, or when you start dating Santana again."

"You're being stupid." Puck whispered, almost as if he was afraid to being saying it. He braced himself for a slap across the face or a rant on how insensitive he was but it never came. Quinn simply looked at him, tiled her head, and asked Puck, "Why?" She was hurt by his comment, but she didn't want it to show just yet.

"Because you keep feeling sorry for yourself for no reason. You're fucking Quinn Fabray. The Quinn Fabray I know doesn't make herself feel like crap or make herself get fixed up into a big mess. This isn't you."

It dawned on her. This wasn't her at all. Puck was right. Quinn was always the one to power on and make the best out of terrible situations. She wasn't one to get herself in such a slump. She has been doing so well up to that point and she realized that it was all stemming from jealousy. Jealousy of Puck being with Santana was what had made her start focusing on all that was wrong in her life. Quinn wanted to scream or throw herself off the bleachers. Anything to get her mind off of how frustrating her life was.

Quinn stood up from her seat on the bleachers and started walking down to her car. Puck stood up as well and walked after her, yelling, "Quinn, where are you going? What's the matter with you?"

Quinn had reached her car and had her hand on the door handle. However, she turned around and she was at least six steps away form Puck. She yelled back, "I'm so mad, and so angry that I want to yell out so that everyone in freaking Ohio can hear me! I hate my dad, I hate Santana, and I hate... I hate needing you! I didn't before! Or I thought I didn't but then you start dating Santana and I want to give up everything os that you'll pick me over her! It's messed up and I hate it! I can't do this anymore! I need to go back to where I was. I was in a good place."

Puck had moved in closer to Quinn and looked at her more confused than ever. "Do you want me to break up with Santana or something?"

Quinn wiped away a couple of tears that had started pouring out of her eyes and shook her head. "No," She replied, "I don't. I think I just need more time. I thought that soon I was going to be better but it turns out I'm not. I just need more time alone. I need to know my own needs and know myself. Then I won't be such a jealous bitch."

Puck nodded. "We could still stay here and talk if you wanted. We wouldn't have to bring up Santana or anyone else. Just talk about life stuff... like real friends."

Quinn smiled. "That sounds nice, but I really need to go home and cry now. Rain check?"

Puck smirked and nodded at her. Quinn smiled back and got into her car. As she was driving home she started to calm down and realized where she had gone wrong. It was all about a competition. If it had been any other girl Quinn wouldn't have cared but the fact that it was Santana, the girl she had been frenimies with since kindergarden made everything so complicated. However, Quinn knew that she was right when she said that she needed more time to herself. After her meltdown it was clear she wasn't ready for a relationship. She couldn't even handle her own emotions at the moment. In any case, that night changed their relationship. They were no longer friends. At school they barely talked, and during Glee Club the awkwardness from that night was there. It didn't help matters that Santana seemed intent on wrapping herself around Puck at every possible second.

One day after Cheerio's practice she tried really hard to push Quinn's buttons. It was not a smart move. Santana sidled up beside Quinn as they were walking to the change rooms and smugly told her, "Guess not even having a baby with a guy can get you to first place of his best sex partners list."

Quinn stopped in her tracks as Santana walked on. When Santana noticed that Quinn was left behind she turned around and smirked. "You look confused. Don't play stupid. Only Brittany can rock that look."

Quinn took a deep breath to refrain from running over and starting an official smack down on the girl. She had to be classy and keep her cool. So Quinn didn't start a physical fight. Instead she simply stated, "Of course he's going to tell you that. The pathetic thing is that you asked. Grab a little confidence for yourself and maybe you make your way up from the bottom of the pyramid."

Santana put a hand on her hip and laughed. "Oh Quinn. Don't worry... we all know I like it on top."

Quinn rolled her eyes and tried to walk past Santana. As she did she breathed out, "I happen to know that Puck would jump ship to me the first chance he got. So don't start getting too cocky."

Quinn only was able to take two steps forward before she felt herself being thrown to the ground. Santana was on top of her, slapping her across the face. Quinn hated girl fights. They were so classless but she needed to defend herself. She tried pushing Santana off of her but the bitch kept running back and pushing Quinn back on to the floor.

"Get off of me you freak!" Quinn yelled as she pulled Santana's hair to get her to stop hitting her. At this point there was a small crowd of people looking onto the fight.

Santana yelled back, "I hate you! You're ruining my life!"

Mr. Schue had run over to the two girls and pulled Santana off of Quinn. He did not look amused at all. Quinn tightened up her ponytail and brushed off the dirt that had collected on her cheerleading uniform. She was embarrassed that people had seen her look so classless with Santana.

"You two have to start getting along," Mr. Schuester lectured, "We're a family. You two were best friends. You need to stop acting like children."

"The bitch is trying to sabotage my relationship." Santana declared with a hand on her hip.

Quinn had to roll her eyes at that comment. She even let out a little chuckle. "She's a liar! She's jealous of me being more popular and better than her! She's an insecure freak who needs to get off my back!"

Mr. Schue let the girls go after a few minutes of talking things over and teaching them to talk things out rather than initiate a cat fight. Quinn grinned and listened even though she had no idea why she was needed to hear the conversation. She was a million times more mature than Santana. That girl was the instigator of every problem. Quinn hated her.

Quinn had put Santana on permanent ignore after that fight. She wasn't even going to bother being frenemies with the bitch. Not only did Santana not deserve it, but it wasn't worth Quinn's time. Instead Quinn went on with her life. She was getting good grades, she managed to snag a solo in the Glee Club, the Cheerio's won three consecutive competitions, and she was becoming closer with her true friends, such as Mercedes and Kurt. It was a welcome change not to have to think of ways to sabotage the feisty Cheerio.

One day, in April, Quinn received great news. She was in the rehearsal room waiting for everyone else to arrive. Finn was also sitting in the room, one row in front of Quinn. He turned around, stared at Quinn as if he was contemplating whether to tell her something or not, and then turned back around.

Quinn smirked. "What is it Finn?" She asked with a sigh, figuring it had to do with Rachel who still managed to top Santana on her least favourite persons list.

Finn turned around and waved it off. "Nothing it's just... well Santana and Puck broke up. I just thought you'd want to know."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to know?"

Finn smiled, not playing into Quinn's denial. "Come on Quinn. We all know you and Puck are endgame."

Quinn rolled her eyes at her ex. Once Finn turned around she did let a smile slip. She had managed to be apart from any boy drama since the whole midnight freakout on the bleachers, so she wasn't thrilled that Puck was single and she could jump up on him at any moment. No, she was simply excited that Santana was single and thus unhappy. The girl deserved it. Back to being single, Quinn was loving it. She had begun to realize how nice it was to be able to flirt with whoever she wanted without feeling guilty. Also, it was so nice to have so much time to herself or to spend with her friends. She had made out with three guys since she was single. At parties, and it was completely casual. Quinn loved it and she was definitely not ready to jump back into a relationship. She had finally managed to be okay being single and now she wasn't ready to go back to her old ways. She still cared about Puck a lot, and knew she would want to be with him in the future. However, that day wasn't today. She wanted a little more time, and really that was a good thing. It was healthy to want to be single, and Quinn was impressed with herself. And above all else she was happy that Santana didn't have anything to hold over her head anymore.

After Glee Practice Quinn was filled in on the details of the breakup from Kurt, who had heard about it through another one of the Cheerio's. Apparently Puck was the one who had broken up with Santana. She was too possessive and apparently he was had been mad at her over the cat fight. Though Quinn wasn't ready to be with him, she was happy that Puck had been upset over his girlfriend's crazy antics.

Since Puck was single, and Quinn had become comfortable not having a boyfriend, she thought it would be a good time to start up a friendship again with Puck. Quinn decided to ask him to be her partner for the Glee Club assignment. They were supposed to sing a ballad as the last time no one really ended up doing so. Quinn had been a little nervous to ask Puck since ballads has a romantic connotation attached to them, but she wanted to be friendly and this was the best way she knew how.

Quinn had walked up to Puck after Mr. Schue had announced the assignment and they were dismissed. "Hey," She greeted, "Did you want to be my partner for the ballad assignment?"

Puck gave Quinn a look, not knowing if she were completely serious or not. She couldn't blame him, after not speaking with him, or even looking in his general direction for the longest time. He ended up not pushing his luck and making a sarcastic comment, and instead nodded and told her, "That'd be cool."

Quinn smiled. "Good. So how about you come over to my house tomorrow at eight and we can practice?"

Puck confirmed the plans and Quinn was excited to start being friendly with her ex again. She had to admit to missing Puck. Sure he could be a skeeze at times, and he talked a lot more about video games than he probably should but in the end she cared a lot about him. Once Quinn returned home she went on her laptop to research possible ballads to sing. She didn't want to do anything too romantic, but she also wanted to suggest a song that showed that she still cared a lot about Puck. After a little while Quinn found a song she recognized and thought was perfect for the situation.

The next night Quinn waited patiently in her room for Puck to come over. She had the sheet music out for the song since she had told Puck to bring his guitar. It was times like these that Quinn wished she could play an instrument so she could contribute a bit more but she thought that at least she had picked out the song so it wasn't like she was totally useless.

The doorbell rang and Quinn's mom called from downstairs to make sure her daughter had heard it. Quinn walked down to answer the door. She smiled once she opened it. "Hey."

Puck smiled back. "Hey. I brought the guitar." Puck lifted up the case as if to prove it. Quinn smiled and stood back to invite him in. "Let's practice in my room." She didn't mean it in a suggestive way, but Puck was Puck so he felt obligated to raise his eyebrows at the comment.

They walked up the stairs and into Quinn's room. She had made sure to put the record player Puck had bought her for Christmas out. The one Mike had given to her was now in the basement, tucked away. She hadn't used it in a while since they were now not a couple and it felt awkward. It was more natural to use the one Puck had gifted to her. Quinn could have sworn that she saw Puck smile when he looked to his right and saw that his gift was proudly on display, and with a record in it, proving it had was being used.

"So," He asked, "What song are we going to sing? Please tell me you didn't pick anything super lame or sappy."

Quinn bit her lip. "It might be sappy to you... but I heard that Rachel's making Finn sing Islands in the Stream so don't even think about complaining about the one I picked. You probably know this one... it's from Toy Story I think."

Puck braced himself for finding out the title of the song. "Just tell me what it is."

Quinn giggled. "You've Got a Friend in Me." She made sure to give Puck a meaningful smile once she had told him the song so he would realize that she meant what she was saying. He seemed to get the message. He actually looked as if he were blushing. He looked down at his feet, back up at Quinn and replied, "Fine. I guess we could do that one."

Quinn rolled her eyes, as if he had an option. Still, it was nice that he was into the idea as much as she was. She handed Puck the sheet music. He looked it over, deemed it easy enough, and took his guitar out of its case.

Puck put the guitar strap over his shoulder and looked at Quinn. "Should we think of any lame choreography or just start singing?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't thought about moving at all while singing. She wasn't really one for dancing when it was only her or another person up front and centre. It wasn't so bad when they were a group, or when she was performing cheers. SInging alone or with a partner while dancing was a little nerve wrecking. That made the answer to Puck's question a lot easier to figure out.

"Sing. Let's just sing please. We don't need to dance. We can just stand up there and look hot. You can play guitar. I'll sway to the beat. I think that's enough."

Puck shrugged his shoulders. It didn't matter much to him either which way. He was just glad to have Quinn talking to him again, and actually seeming to like him. He looked down at the sheet music, back up at Quinn, and asked, "Can I just start playing? Do you know when to start?"

Quinn smiled and nodded her head. She was excited, but nervous at the same time. Puck started to strum the strings of his guitar and Quinn waited for her cue to start singing. She took a deep breath first, in order to calm her nerves.

"You've got a friend in me," Quinn sang in her sugary sweet singing voice.

"You've got a friend in me," Puck sang in a deeper, stronger voice.

Quinn smiled and wanted to giggle out of sheer joy of singing with Puck. She had to focus however, as her solo part of the song was up. "When the road looks ahead, and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed. You just remember what your old pal said. Boy, you've got a friend in me."

Puck looked half impressed and half gracious at Quinn as she sang the lines of the song and meant every single word. He followed her lead with the next line as they sang together, "Yeah, you've got a friend in me."

They sang that same two lines together twice before it was time for Puck's solo. He was still going steady with his guitar playing. He had always been able to pick up new songs fast luckily. "If you've got troubles, I got 'em too. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. We stick together, we can see it through. Cause you've got a friend in me."

Quinn smiled as she sang, "Yeah you've got a friend in me."

Puck stopped playing guitar, the pair looked at each others deep in the eyes and let out one last time, "You've got a friend in me," in unison.

There had been more to the song, but it got a lot more personal, something Quinn wasn't sure if Puck would be comfortable singing in front of everyone. Plus, it was customary for those who were singing in the club to shorten the songs. Usually if they continued things became too repetitive or people lost interest. Quinn, who usually had a long attention span, wasn't able to withstand even thirty-seconds of Rachel Berry's shrill voice.

Puck put his guitar down and awkwardly put his hand on the back of his head. "So... that was pretty good."

Quinn nodded her head in agreement. "I meant it too... I do want to be your friend Puck. I always will be."

Puck chuckled. "I didn't know you were so cheesy."

She rolled her eyes. They could never have a perfectly nice moment. "Shut up and just let me talk to you. I want to be your friend Puck. Even if you date all the girls I can't stand or I'm acting like a crazy person and you just want to tell me to shut up. I still want to be friends."

Puck stood up and took a few steps closer to Quinn. "I want to be friends too... but you know I want to be more. It's hard being our friend when I want to be your boyfriend."

Quinn understood exactly what Puck was talking about. She had similar feelings. However, she still had to consult herself on what she needed to do with these feelings. She had spent months being single and she had enjoyed it, fully. Still, she did want to be with Puck again. She wanted to be his girlfriend, and have him be her boyfriend. She wanted to hold hands, go out for dinner, and be able to kiss him. The point of being single was learning how to be happy alone, and Quinn had successfully accomplished that. Would it be so wrong to now stop the cycle and enter into a relationship again?

Quinn took a deep breath. "I want to be with you too Puck..." Her voice lingered, and Puck noticed it. "But what?" He asked, knowing there had to be more to what Quinn was saying.

Quinn grinned. There was no getting past him. "But... it's just hard since I've spent so much time being single. I don't want to get hurt again. I can't go through what happened last year again. I'm not that strong. I like people to think that I'm the head bitch in charge and nothing can get to me but... I'm weak. I can't take getting hurt anymore, especially not by anyone I... anyone I love."

Puck's face brightened at that comment. "You still love me? After all that crap I've done?"

Quinn nodded coyly. Puck seemed to be one of the only people she could completely express her feelings to without being nervous. Puck took another step closer to Quinn. "Good," He whispered, "Because I still love you too."

Quinn felt her lips curving upwards. This felt good. It felt right. The moment was perfect. Puck leaned in closer to Quinn. His face was mere inches from her. Quinn knew what was happening. She wanted it to, but first she needed something clarified. "This time... it has to be different. It has to. This time is has to work. No more being stupid. We can't act immature. If we're going to do this... it has to be good this time. I mean it."

Puck nodded his head. He agreed with her. He wanted their relationship to work out every bit as much as Quinn did. "It will. I promise. I've lost you so many times before... I've learnt my lesson. This time I'm not going to lose you. This time... it's going to work Quinn. I love you."

"I love you too." The words had escaped her mouth before she had time to process them. It just seemed natural to say them to Puck. She knew that this is what she wanted. She wasn't scared. She was happy. She let Puck lean in the remainder of space between them and place his lips upon hers.

She had missed the feeling of kissing Puck. She had missed the feeling of him wrapping his arms around her, and moving his hands through her hair. She was so glad to have it all back. She could feel it in his kiss that this time was going to be different. The haste, passionate kisses were replaced with soft, and sweet ones. Quinn could even feel him smiling as he kissed her, with the way his lips had moved.

She had been through so much in the past year and a half. It had been more dram than Quinn had ever expected to have in high school. Still, she wouldn't give it up for the world. She wouldn't change anything about it. This was all due to the fact that now she was in her bedroom, kissing the boy she loved more than anything, and she knew that he loved her too. Without all of the drama, she would never be in the moment she was in now. This was perfection. Quinn knew that she would be looking forward to more perfect moments to come. She couldn't wait for them.

She wrapped her arms around Puck's back and let herself give into his kiss completely. They were together... again... finally.

Author's Note: Please Read :)

I am so completely and utterly sorry first of all. I want to apologize a bazillion times. This story is far too overdue. I never should have made any of my lovely readers wait so long for the last chapter. The truth of the matter was not that I gave up on this chapter. Far from it. I would say that I wrote at least 100 words a day, for the most part, but the simple fact is that life got in the way. School has become so overwhelming, my job takes up so much time, I have extracurriculars that take up even more time, and on top of all that it's always nice to continue a social life. I have had no time to write, but any moment I food myself with a few minutes, or on the rare occasion an hour, I was writing. I wish that this could have come out a month ago but that wasn't the case. I hope that you haven't lost interest in the story. I really hope not. I hope that all of my fantastic readers have found their way back to this story and are very satisfied with the ending.

Now, I hope this doesn't disappoint anyone but I probably won't be writing for a while. I'm a big fan of long chapter stories but I cannot imagine writing another one for quite some time. It would take forever, and the gaps between chapters would be far too long. However, I will be writing stories again. I just don't know when. Probably over Christmas break I'll have the time to do so. I wish there was one more hour in the day. This also means that I won't be able to write a story based on one of your suggestions from the reviews of the last chapter. I just do not have the time, and I am sorry.

Hopefully I can squeeze in time here and there to maybe write a few one-shots.

Anyways, I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter and this story. I loved writing it! I hope that the wait wasn't too bad on you all.

This story took forever and a half to write, so if you have the time I would love to hear your thoughts on it in the form of a review. It'd make my day :)

Thank you for all who have been reading, subscribing, or reviewing. You are so amazing!

Until next time,

Happy Reading :)


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